Lady Mustangs, Knights, Trojans collect North Central League I wins
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UPPER LAKE >> Mia Hoogendoorn needed less than five minutes in the first quarter to get the nine points that made her Middletown High School’s all-time scoring leader Friday night as the Mustangs beat the Upper Lake Cougars 55-24 in North Central League I varsity girls basketball action in Upper Lake.
Hoogendoorn, a senior, entered play with 1,306 points, just eight behind Ashlyn Welton (1,314), the school’s career scoring leader since the 2015-16 season. She had already scored seven points in the first quarter, putting her at 1,313, when the magic moment came with 3:15 left in the quarter. She pulled up for a corner 3-pointer near the Upper Lake bench and caught nothing but net for career points 1,314, 1,315 and 1,316.
While the game wasn’t stopped for the moment, unlike Hoogendoorn’s 1,000th point earlier this season at home against Lower Lake, Middletown head coach Roxi Holt, Mia’s mom, called a timeout a short time later so that the team could celebrate.
“We had a huge crowd (of Middletown fans) behind our bench, so it was fun,” Holt said.
Hoogendoorn would finish with 30 points and five 3-pointers, bringing her career total to 1,336. She still has at least eight more league games to add to that total, plus any playoff games the Mustangs play in. She currently ranks 14th on the list of all-time county scorers and should crack the top 10 before her season and career is complete.
“I’m so proud of her,” Holt said. “She’s worked hard to get here.”
Hoogendoorn left the game midway through the third quarter with an ankle injury. After pump faking on a 3-pointer, Hoogdendoorn drove to the basket, drew a foul and sustained the injury after making contact with an Upper Lake player.
“She couldn’t walk on it,” Holt said. “It’s not season-ending.”
Middletown, tied for the NCL I lead with Kelseyville at 5-1, improved to 13-4 overall. The Mustangs close out the first half of their league schedule Tuesday in Lakeport against Clear Lake (1-5, 4-11).
Middletown dominated the first three quarters against the Cougars, building a 29-13 halftime lead and taking a 48-19 advantage into the final period.
Izzi Hoogendoorn, a freshman, added 11 points, all coming in the second half, while Sarah Fetters added six points, all on 3-pointers. Jordyn Harbison finished with five points.
Alyssa John’s 12 points led the Cougars. Aimee Schaefers added six points and 13 rebounds.
“We did a great job getting the ball moving around, just couldn’t get our shots to drop,” Upper Lake coach Fawn Rave said.
“Aimee did good down low with 13 rebounds and five blocks,” Rave added.
Upper Lake wraps up the first half of its NCL I schedule Tuesday in St. Helena.
Middletown also won the junior varsity game, 35-26. Emma Jones led the Mustangs (3-2), who won their third straight league game, with nine points. Thally Rodriguez added eight and Ally Cherry had seven.
“It was a great team win that had all girls contributing,” Middletown head coach Daryl Dacosta said. “The girls are playing unselfish basketball and working well as a team.”
Upper Lake is 1-4 in league play. Individual scoring was not reported.
In other girls basketball action Friday:
Kelseyville 46, Cloverdale 21
At Kelseyville, a first-place showdown between Kelseyville and the visiting Cloverdale Eagles turned out to be an all-Knights affair.
The win leaves Kelseyville (5-1, 10-7) tied with Middletown for the league lead. Cloverdale (4-2, 7-9) falls one game off the pace.
“Once again our defense was outstanding,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “With three minutes left in the game we had only allowed three points in the second half. It didn’t matter who was in and what position they were thrown into, the girls were just dominant.”
Ashlyn (AJ) Wurm had another big game for the Knights with 17 points, eight steals, five rebounds and five assists, all in three quarters of play. Mati Mateer added 11 points and eight rebounds while Cali Schnabl had six points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“Offensively, the way the girls are moving the ball and trusting each other is incredible,” Conrad said. “We are playing with so much confidence on both sides of the floor. I would love to single out a few players, but quite honestly all of my girls played their butts off. The girls are having fun playing basketball.”
Briana Davis also filled up the stats sheet for Kelseyville with four points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists.
Amara Galvan led the Eagles with 11 points.
Both teams close out the first half of their league schedules on Tuesday. Kelseyville hosts Fort Bragg (3-3) while Cloverdale is home against Lower Lake (2-4).
In JV action, Kelseyville defeated Willits 52-37 in non-league action (because Cloverdale doesn’t have a JV team this season).
Riley Hanson, a freshman, finished with a triple-double of 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 steals as the Knights improved to 15-1. Aubree Speber led Kelseyville with 15 points and also had nine steals and three assists, and Jordyn Wurm finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“We were down a couple of girls tonight and we knew we had to come out strong,” Kelseyville head coach Julie Berry said. “Every single girl stepped up and played great.”
Lower Lake 45, Clear Lake 42
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans overcame 20 points and 12 rebounds from Clear Lake junior Faith McIntire to beat the Cardinals in a physical NCL I game.
The third quarter turned out to be the difference as the Trojans, trailing 22-19 at halftime, outscored the Cardinals 21-8.
Olivia Guralas scored 13 points for Lower Lake (2-4, 6-11) while Irianna Milano added 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Aly Aguirre added six points, all on 3-pointers, before picking up a pair of technical fouls and being ejected in the fourth quarter.
“We played a good second half after getting ourselves in foul trouble in the first half,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “We played without (starter) Brooke Benson tonight and our bench came up big in her absence.”
Lower Lake snapped a four-game losing streak. Clear Lake fell to 1-5 in league and 4-11 overall.
Kaylah Billing had six points and Jazmin Wiebusch five for the Cardinals. Aliyah Valdez added two points and 10 rebounds. Thirteen of McIntire’s points came at the free-throw line.
Lower Lake also won the JV game, 37-29, improving to 5-1 in league play and 12-2 overall.
Khaya Chaney’s 11 points led the Trojans while Brooklynn Tubbs added seven. Juliza Sevilla and Leanna Ortega each had six.
Haylie Garcia’s 15 points led the Cardinals (3-2, 8-7).
Clear Lake is home Tuesday against Lower Lake. Lower Lake’s varsity visits Cloverdale on Tuesday (the JVs have a bye because the Eagles do not have a JV team this season).