Hoogendoorn scores 1,000th point

Middletown senior reaches milestone in 58-25 win over Lower Lake

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MIDDLETOWN >> Along her path to 1,000 career points, no one could have ever imagined that the toughest part for Middletown High School senior Mia Hoogendoorn would be weathering the gap between points No. 999 and 1,000.

What an ordeal, played out in real time Saturday night as the Mustangs jumped out to a 24-0 lead before putting away the Lower Lake Trojans 58-25 in non-league varsity girls action that also served as a career milestone marker for Hoogendoorn, a four-year varsity veteran who entered play 13 points shy of 1,000.

With a large crowd tracking Hoogendoorn’s every move on the court, the senior sank her 998th and 999th points at the free-throw line with 3:48 remaining in the first half. It would be another highly eventual 10 minutes of game time before she would draw a foul in the process of shooting with 1:35 left in the third quarter. Stepping to the line with all eyes on her, she calmly and coolly buried the ball in the net, touching off a loud round of applause from the crowd. There was a temporary break in the action as she was congratulated by mom and Middletown head coach Roxi Holt and teammates while a chant of “Mia! Mia! Mia!” began in the crowd and continued onto the floor as her teammates picked up the cadence.

Between points 999 and 1,000, Hoogendoorn missed a dozen shots from the field of all distances and degrees of difficulty, including a long 3-pointer just inside the halfcourt stipe that rimmed out right before halftime, and an uncontested layup.

Welcome to the pressure of chasing 1,000 points.

Right after hitting the free throw for her 1,000th point, and the pressure now off, Hoogendoorn made pretty much every shot in sight, scoring 15 more points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and finishing with a team-high 28.

“Congratulations goes out to Mia,” said Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs, who watched his Trojans (0-1) get off to a rough start in their first game of the 2024-25 season.

“Wish we would have played better, but it is what it is,” Tubbs said. “Tale of the game … 27 turnovers. We didn’t rebound well and we went 4-for-24 from the free-throw line. That is a recipe for disaster. Defensive rotations were slow, a lot of the little things we need to work on were clear.”

Tubbs said part of the problem for Lower Lake was the last-minute scheduling of the game, and therein rests a pretty good story within a story as far as Hoogendoorn’s big night is concerned.

Willits was scheduled to play at Middletown on Saturday but canceled on Friday, which meant that Hoogendoorn’s opportunity to reach 1,000 points in front of a home crowd wasn’t going to happen. The Mustangs didn’t have another game until the Piner Tournament (Santa Rosa) in early December, and chances were slim many Middletown fans would have been in attendance to watch her reach the milestone on the road.

And then Tubbs stepped in to save the day, volunteering his junior varsity and varsity teams to replace Willits on Middletown’s schedule and guaranteeing that Hoogendoorn would be squarely in the spotlight on her home court.

“I needed the game,” Tubbs said. “I wanted to see her do it at home. She deserves that.”

Added Tubbs on the Trojans’ painful start – they trailed 18-0 after one quarter and were staring at a 24-0 deficit early in the second quarter until hitting back-to-back baskets to make it 24-5.

“Part of the issue is that we took the game on with last-minute notice and didn’t have a pregame practice to prepare,” Tubbs said. “I know my girls and they will play better next time around.”

Lower Lake and Middletown will meet at least twice more this season during home-and-away North Central League I games.

Not even Hoogendoorn’s struggles to nail down point 1,000 offered Lower Lake much relief as her teammates, including freshman sister Isabella Hoogendoorn (13 points), helped pick up the slack. The Trojans trailed 29-11 at halftime and 39-18 through three quarters.

Brooke Benson and Jamiya Lee-Ayers scored seven points apiece for Lower Lake. Jordyn Harbison and Jaylee Doris finished with six points apiece for Middletown (2-0) while Harley Holley added five points.

Hoogendoorn will now move steadily up the 1,000-point ladder. She is exactly 300 points away from becoming Middletown’s all-time scoring leader and could become only the sixth Lake County player to score at least 1,500 points before her season and career are complete.

Lower Lake is off until the Sandy Mac Tournament Dec. 5 in Windsor.

Lower Lake won the junior varsity game 25-23. Individual scoring wasn’t reported.

PHOTO: Mia Hoogendoorn poses with mom and Middletown head coach Roxi Holt following the Mustangs’ 58-25 home win over Lower Lake on Saturday night. Hoogendoorn scored a team-high 28 points, including the 1,000th point of her career. (Photo by Brian Sumpter)