MCKINLEYVILLE — The McKinleyville Panthers took control of the game with a 15-5 second quarter and never looked back Wednesday night as they went on to to beat the Middletown Mustangs 47-27 in the first round of the North Coast Section Division 4 girls basketball playoffs in McKinleyville.
Middletown went 19-7 in Roxi Holt’s first season as the Mustangs’ head coach, two of those losses coming to McKinleyville, a 40-33 winner over the Mustangs back in early December in the consolation championship game of the Redwood Empire Invitational at Healdsburg. The Panthers (16-9), the No. 5 seed, advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round against No. 4 Del Norte.
The Mustangs led 6-5 after one quarter and opened up an 11-7 lead early in the second quarter on a Jaidyn Brown 3-pointer and a Bella Santiago basket, which turned out to be Middletown’s final points of the first half. McKinleyville went on a 13-0 run to open up a 20-11 halftime lead.
What happened to Middletown in the second quarter was no mystery.
“We had three of our starters out of the game (in foul trouble),” Holt said. “I was being cautious.”
Senior Kamryn Atkins had three fouls after the first quarter while junior Amanda Hart and sophomore Mia Hoogendoorn had two apiece.
“It’s hard against a team like that for our reserves to keep up and compete,” Holt said. “Everybody needs to be on if you’re going to compete and win. We also had way too many turnovers to beat a team like McKinleyville.”
Holt said she also had no explanation for why the Mustangs suddenly started picking up fouls left and right during the second quarter.
“They (officials) were calling everything against us, nothing against them,” she said. “I don’t know what happened. Their fans even came over to us after the game and apologized.”
Middletown was never closer than 10 points in the second half, and then only briefly.
Entering the fourth quarter up 30-19, McKinleyville quickly increased its lead to 20 as Gabby Watson sank three 3-pointers. All 12 of her team-leading points came on 3s.
“They had the momentum, they had the drive, they wanted it more than we did,” Holt said of the Panthers.
Camryn Pinard had six of her 10 points in the second quarter for McKinleyville.
Hoogendoorn’s eight points led the Mustangs while Brown finished with six, all on 3-pointers, in her final high school game. It also was the career finale for seniors Atkins and Skylar Williams.
Freshman Harley Holley, called up from the junior varsity squad for the playoffs, made a free throw in the fourth quarter for her first varsity point.
Middletown tied Clear Lake for second place in the final North Central League I standings this season. The Mustangs entered the Division 4 playoffs as the No. 12 seed in the 16-team field. Two other NCL I teams also lost in the first round Wednesday. League champion and No. 11 seed Fort Bragg fell 54-46 to Arcata while No. 14 Cloverdale dropped a 65-48 decision to St. Bernard’s.
