Middletown’s Hoogendoorn closes in on scoring record with 24 points against St. Helena
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ST. HELENA >> Mia Hoogendoorn closed in on Middletown’s all-time scoring record as the Mustangs turned back a determined effort from the St. Helena Saints to win 39-29 in North Central League I varsity girls basketball action Tuesday night in St. Helena.
Hoogendoorn scored 24 points, 12 in each half, as Middletown (4-1 league, 12-4 overall) remained tied atop NCL I standings with Kelseyville and Cloverdale, both winners on Tuesday as well.
“We’re not really talking about it,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said of Hoogendoorn’s pursuit of the school’s career scoring mark of 1,314 points held by Ashlyn Welton. “We’re trying to win a league title.”
Hoogendoorn is just nine points shy of breaking Welton’s record, which she’ll likely do on Friday when the Mustangs visit the Upper Lake Cougars. The senior has 1,306 points, one of only 15 Lake County players to reach 1,300.
“There’s not another girl in the league who works as hard as her,” Holt said.
“They face-guarded Mia the whole time and we had to work through that,” Holt added. “They were sticking like glue to her. They were practically inside her skin. When she hit her only 3-pointer, she was being double-teamed.”
Middletown and St. Helena were tied 17-17 at the half. The Mustangs finally broke away during a 16-5 third quarter when Hoogendoorn scored eight of her points, including a 3-pointer.
Jordyn Harbison added eight points.
St. Helena (2-3, 7-8) did everything it could to slow down the Mustangs, according to Holt.
“They have a good squad this year,” she said. “They came out and competed, played hard and aggressive.”
In other NCL I action Tuesday:
Kelseyville 67, Clear Lake 30
At Lakeport, a 40-point second half put the final touches on the Kelseyville Knights’ league win over the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Kelseyville (4-1, 9-7) jumped out to a 17-4 lead after one quarter, but Clear Lake was still within 10 points at halftime, closing to 27-17. The Cardinals were as close as 27-22 early in the third quarter.
“We kind of let them creep back into the game at the end of the second quarter,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “And they scored the first five points to start the second half before we turned it on.”
Kelseyville’s pressure defense was the deciding factor.
“They didn’t have an answer for our pressure,” Conrad said. “Briana (Davis) and Cali (Schnabl) had huge second halves. They both either scored or assisted pretty much anytime we had the ball. I was very pleased with our ball movement and unselfish play in the second half.”
Ashlyn Wurm had another big game for the Knights with 15 points, seven steals, six rebounds and five assists while Mati Mateer added 11 points and six rebounds. Also for the Knights, Schnabl finished with 10 points, five assists and four steals, and Davis just missed a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds, seven steals, six assists and three blocks.
Faith McIntire scored a team-best 11 points for Clear Lake (1-4, 4-9) before fouling out in the fourth quarter. She picked up another double-double with 16 rebounds. Kaylah Billig added six points and six rebounds, and Aliyah Valdez had five points.
Clear Lake hosts Colusa in a non-league game Wednesday. Junior varsity action begins at 5:30 p.m. Kelseyville is on the road Friday to play Cloverdale. The Knights’ JV team is home Friday to face Willits in a non-league game.
Upper Lake 57, Lower Lake 35
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars secured their first league win behind 24 points and 14 rebounds from Alyssa John, 17 rebounds by Aimee Schaefers, and 10 points and eight rebounds from both Aubrey Suzor and Ashlyn Rhodes.
“We came in wanting a win and ready to play with a full roster and no one out for the first game all season,” Upper Lake coach Fawn Rave said. “Everyone did a great job playing their areas tonight. Aimee Schaefers had a great night rebounding, and with some great assists tonight.”
Added Rave, “It was good to see Ashlyn Rhodes running the court tonight and getting some shots off.”
Naomi Poe had seven points and seven rebounds for the Cougars (1-4, 6-7).
John, only a sophomore, filled up the stats sheet for Upper Lake, including four assists and two steals.
“She’s been an all-around player for us and put in some tough spots, but we are proud of her keeping her head up and working through it while we work through our team injuries,” Rave said.
Lower Lake trailed only 39-32 after three quarters, but the Cougars outscored the Trojans 19-4 in the final period.
“We played hard, just couldn’t make a shot tonight,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “Turnovers were too high to compete as well. We finished the game shooting 1-for-19 in the fourth quarter.”
Ayla Ales had eight points, including two 3-pointers, for the Trojans (1-4, 5-11). Olivia Guralas added six points while Aly Aguirre and Mary Watson each had five.
Both teams are home on Friday. Upper Lake hosts Middletown while Lower Lake takes on Clear Lake.
Cloverdale 47, Fort Bragg 29
At Cloverdale, the Cloverdale Eagles (4-1, 7-8) retained a share of the league lead with a big second half against the Fort Bragg Timberwolves (3-2, 7-9).
“Tale of two halves,” Cloverdale head coach Mac Butler said. “The team stepped up in the second half.”
Cloverdale outscored Fort Bragg 33-16 over the final two quarters.
Amara Galvan led the Eagles with 17 points and Ronni Hatcher had 10.
Cloverdale faces a big road test Friday at Kelseyville (4-1). Fort Bragg hosts St. Helena (2-3).
