M’town, K’ville improve to 7-1 with league home wins; they play Tuesday in Middletown
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MIDDLETOWN >> Not even a career-high 32 points from Cloverdale High School senior Amara Galvan could stop the in-all-kinds-of-foul-trouble Middletown Mustangs during their 50-46 win over the Eagles in North Central League I varsity girls basketball action Friday in Middletown.
Middletown (7-1 league, 14-5 overall) scored the game’s final four points to remain tied with Kelseyville atop the league standings, and those two team square off Tuesday night in Middletown.
“It was a full-on team effort,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said of the win. “They (Eagles) tried everything they could. They are a well-coached team.”
“It was a slugfest (in a good sportsmanship way),” Cloverdale head coach Mac Butler said. “We played well, but costly turnovers late in the game and foul trouble was the difference. I’m proud of the team hope to bounce back.”
Both teams found themselves in all kinds of foul trouble before this one was over.
Middletown’s Mia Hoogendoorn, who led the Mustangs with 26 points, Jordyn Harbison (nine points), Harley Holley and Izzi Hoogendoorn all finished the game with four fouls while Sarah Fetters (seven points) and Jaylee Doris (six points) each had three.
Cloverdale had two players foul out before it was over and another with four fouls.
“It was a gritty game,” Holt said.
Middletown fell behind by as many as 12 points in the third quarter before cutting that deficit to 36-35 entering the final period.
Cloverdale (5-3, 8-10) made Middletown’s foul trouble pay off at the free-throw line in the first half, according to Holt.
“They were at the line a lot,” she said.
Hoogendoorn scored 11 of her team’s 15 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
“That was definitely pretty,” Holt said of the last-second trey that cut Cloverdale’s lead to a single point.
“They play strong, tight man-to-man defense,” Holt said of the Eagles.
Middletown’s job was made even more difficult down the stretch when Holley sustained a knee injury while driving inside for a layup.
Holt gave high marks to the play of Fetters and Doris.
“Some of the best play I’ve seen from those two,” Holt said.
Looking ahead to the Mustangs’ big showdown with Kelseyville on Tuesday, Holt said, “It’s either in our hands or we’re going to leave it up to someone else. I’m going to need the best out of everyone.”
Middletown’s only league loss to date was a 44-31 setback to Kelseyville on Dec. 17 in Kelseyville. The Mustangs also beat the Knights 39-37 in tournament action Dec. 6.
There was no junior varsity game.
In other girls basketball action Friday:
Kelseyville 48, Lower Lake 30
At Kelseyville, the Kelseyville Knights (7-1, 12-7) used a 14-2 second quarter to push ahead of and beat Lower Lake, avenging a league-opening 27-26 loss to Trojans (2-6, 6-13) on Dec. 10 in Lower Lake.
“They worked hard and made it difficult for us,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “We had a slow start and did not shoot the ball well.”
Added Conrad, “the second half we turned it on. We got back to doing what we do best, defense and transition baskets. We got a couple of easy buckets and that kind of settled us down.”
“We played good to start the game, worked hard, just couldn’t keep them off the offensive glass,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “Twenty offensive rebounds for Kelseyville is a recipe for disaster.”
Olivia Hommer led the way for the Knights with 14 points and nine rebounds while Briana Davis added 12 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, five steals and four assists.
“Olivia Hommer played a heck of a game,” Conrad said. “She pulled down rebounds, passed the ball out in transition, and really ran the court well. She really gave us a nice spark. She also went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line, which has been a struggle for us as a team all year.”
Added Conrad, “Briana Davis continued to fill up the stat sheet tonight. Overall she has just been awesome on the floor. Her second half was great.”
Ashlyn Wurm added seven points and five steals for Kelseyville.
Brooke Watson’s 11 points, including two 3-pointers, led the Trojans. Jamiya Lee-Ayers added five points and a team-high nine rebounds while Olivia Guralas and Irianna Milano also had five points.
“We’re hoping to be a spoiler in a game or two in the second half,” Tubbs said.
Lower Lake hosts Fort Bragg (4-4) on Tuesday.
Kelseyville also won the JV game, 43-31, behind 19 points, eight rebounds and five steals from Grace Hobbs.
The win gives Kelseyville (7-0, 16-1) a two-game lead over Lower Lake (5-2, 12-3) in the NCL I standings.
“We came out ready to prove a point tonight,” Kelseyville head coach Liz Berry said. “We stayed strong defensively, the girls worked hard in man and shut Lower Lake down from the outside.”
“Today was definitely an off game,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Wiley said. “Our posts put in some solid work tonight utilizing the tools we’ve been giving them. The growth we saw tonight from Khaya (Chaney) and Lily (Milano) tonight gave us hope for the rest of the season.”
Chaney’s nine points and Milano’s eight paced the Trojans.
Aubree Sperber had nine points for Kelseyville while Kendra Devries finished with eight. Riley Hanson added four points and nine rebounds.
“We worked well together in our press and got the turnovers from them to score consistently on fastbreaks,” Berry said. “We broke their press well and kept that momentum up offensively, too. The teamwork and consistency this group has is hard to beat. They come out ready to play every single game and I couldn’t ask for more from them.”
St. Helena 50, Clear Lake 31
At Lakeport, the St. Helena Saints improved to 5-3 in league play after pulling away in the second half to beat the Clear Lake Cardinals (1-7, 4-13).
Clear Lake went to the half trailing only 25-16.
Faith McIntire’s double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds led the Cardinals. Emily Gersalia added four points and eight rebounds while Jazmin Wiebusch and Aliyah Valadez had four points apiece.
Clear Lake travels to Upper Lake on Tuesday.
Clear Lake won the JV game 31-16. Individual scoring wasn’t reported.
The Cardinals are 4-3 in league play.
Fort Bragg 55, Upper Lake 34
At Upper Lake, Fort Bragg (4-4) snapped a four-game league losing streak at the expense of the Upper Lake Cougars (1-7, 6-10).
Alyssa John led Upper Lake with 14 points, including four 3-pointrs, and five steals. Aubrey Suzor added nine points and five rebounds while Camila Martin had six points and 10 rebounds. Aimee Schaefers pulled down eight rebounds.
Upper Lake won the JV game 38-16. Individual scoring wasn’t reported.
The Cougars are 3-4 in league play.
