McAuley pours in 36 points as Cardinals dominate Cougars
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LAKE COUNTY >> In the first but certainly not the last big game for each of these two North Central League I varsity boys basketball contenders this season, the Middletown Mustangs drew first blood, knocking off the Kelseyville Knights, defending league co-champions, 61-50, Tuesday night at the Tallman Gym in Middletown.
“We played very tough defense each and every quarter,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “They still managed to hit nine 3-pointers on us and only maybe three were uncontested. They played together very well.”
“We didn’t bring out A game, but they outhustled us,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said. “We kind of played into their hands with all the turnovers we made.”
Lopez said Middletown’s Bodhi Moore, the game’s top scorer with 22 points, definitely stepped up early to give the Mustangs (2-0 league, 7-2 overall) a lift.
“Bodhi got after it in the first quarter,” Lopez said. “His steals shifted momentum, and they kept momentum.”
The game was close most of the way. Middletown outscored Kelseyville 17-13 in the second quarter to open a 36-32 halftime lead. The Mustangs outscored the Knights 12-5 in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Moore had plenty of help from his Middletown teammates in the win. Anthony Bowerman finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds while also blocking two shots, Harrison Brown added 12 points with three 3-pointers, six steals, six assists and five rebounds, and Jon Hawkins had eight points, eight rebounds and five assists. Jasiah Pike led the Mustangs with 14 rebounds.
Kyle Watkins powered the Knights (1-1, 4-4) with 19 points, Ryder Leary finished with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and Brock Barrick had 12 points, all on 3-pointers.
“Middletown definitely outhustled us at both ends of the floor,” Lopez said.
“The fellas buckled down and stepped up,” Diehl said of his players.
Kelseyville used a 20-10 fourth quarter to pull out a 61-54 win in the junior varsity game. Nick Arredondo scored all 18 of his points for the victorious Knights on 3-pointers while Joey Watson added 16. Arredondo completed his double-double with 10 rebounds. Jacob Amendola and Gordon Astrup each had six points and Astrup also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Nalu Johnson and Valentine Jimenez scored 12 points apiece for Middletown and Cody Perez had 10.
“Our offense lost momentum in the fourth quarter and had some costly turnovers,” Middletown head coach Andy Brown said.
Both teams are entered in tournaments later this week. Kelseyville takes part in the Colusa Tournament beginning Thursday while Middletown plays Making Waves Academy in the St. Vincent Tournament on Friday in Petaluma.
In other boys basketball action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 74, Upper Lake 45
At Upper Lake, Zane McAuley lit up the Upper Lake High School gym for 36 points as the Clear Lake Cardinals squared their league record at 1-1 and overall mark at 4-4 with a big win over the Upper Lake Cougars (1-1, 2-1).
“Nice bounceback game for our team,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. “We played really hard with great energy. Zane shot the ball well and as a team we got out on the break all game long.”
Jesse Hayes contributed 13 points to the victory and AJ Bruch had nine.
James Beaux Stiritz led the Cougars with 13 points and Delaney Allison added 10.
“We were down eight at halftime and both teams were turning it over a lot, but Clear Lake wanted it more,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “They (Cardinals) were on the ground fighting for every ball, and they were physical. We weren’t ready for the physicality. It caused a lot of missed shots and a lot of turnovers.”
Both teams return to action Thursday. Clear Lake plays tournament hosts Colusa in the Colusa Tournament at 7:30 p.m. while Upper Lake faces St. Bernard’s of Eureka at 7:30 p.m. in the Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville.
Upper Lake won the junior varsity game 70-65 in overtime led by TJ Malicay’s 22 points.
“I’m very happy for the team, they played a tough game against a good team and got the win,” Upper Lake head coach Lupeli Faleagafulu said. “I challenged the guys to play more physical and they did. It was definitely the most physical game they played this year.”
Shaun Way had 17 points for the Cougars and Mason Parker nine. Kayden Sneed and Slade Colthrap both made major contributions off the bench after two Upper Lake starters fouled out, according to Faleagafulu. Sneed’s play helped send the game into overtime, and Colthrap scored three points in the extra period.
Noah Clever’s 23 points were high for the Cardinals. Ayden Moreno chipped in with 16 and Nolan Buffalo had 15.
“We started out slow in the first quarter and got outscored 25-10,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “We decided to wake up in the second and outscored them 23-12 to cut the lead going into halftime to four. I was proud of the guys for battling and making it a game because we could have easily folded and let them run away with it.”
Upper Lake is 1-1 in league play and Clear Lake 0-2.
The Cardinals play Ferndale on Friday at the Cloverdale Tournament.
Fort Bragg 52, Lower Lake 47
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans (0-2, 1-8) put up a good fight but still came up a bit short against the visiting Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
“This was a close game for us, and out team definitely showed some improvement in playing at a higher energy level and with more intensity, but we still struggled to make high percentage shots in the key, and we still are struggling to crash the boards and box out for both offensive and defensive rebounds,” Lower Lake head coach Anthony Farrington said. “The lack of boards continues to play a significant factor in our losses.”
Noah Hakala’s 23 points led the Trojans (0-2, 1-8) while Brody Shields added 13.
“We saw some fire and good defense tonight, especially in our sophomore player Raijhier McKneeley, who hustled and played some intense defense tonight locking down his player,” Farrington said. “We need to see more of this from our team.”
Fort Bragg won the JV game 62-51. No Lower Lake statistics were reported.
