10-2 teams both have two games remaining as M’town plays at home, K’ville on the road
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MIDDLETOWN >> Mia Hoogendoorn scored 16 of her team-leading 25 points in the second half as the Middletown High School varsity girls basketball team held off a particularly feisty St. Helena Saints squad 43-34 in North Central League I action Friday night in Middletown.
Middletown (10-2 league, 17-6 overall) is now well positioned to win some share of its third league title in four years, all under different coaches. If the Mustangs can beat Upper Lake (1-10) at home on Tuesday and Clear Lake (2-9) at home on Friday (game switched from Thursday), they’ll do no worse than a co-championship, the same as they achieved last season under head coach Tony Hart. They also won the outright title during Hoogendoorn’s freshman year under head coach Andy Brown before finishing second in 2023.
“We’ve been working hard to reach this moment, especially my two seniors (Hoogendoorn and Jaylee Doris),” head coach Roxi Holt said.
Holt said she was “stressed” coming into the game because the Mustangs were minus two starters for the second game in a row. Harley Holley is out with an injury and Jordyn Harbison is sick, a situation that cost them dearly in a 53-48 road loss Wednesday at Fort Bragg.
“And they played us tough the first time we played, and I had all my starters then,” Holt said of a 39-29 loss to the Saints on Jan. 14 in St. Helena.
“I brought up some JV players,” Holt said. “I asked them to give me their all tonight and they did. I couldn’t be any prouder of how they did.”
While the Mustangs never appeared to be in serious trouble against St. Helena (5-7, 10-13) down the stretch, the Saints simply wouldn’t go away. While they were never closer than seven points in the final minutes, the game felt a whole lot closer, according to Holt.
“When you’ve worked all these years to get to this moment, when your girls have put in all this time and effort, you don’t want to let it slip away from you,” Holt said.
The Mustangs didn’t.
Hoogendoorn hit a 3-pointer from well behind the arc with 3:56 remaining to make it a 38-28 game, but St. Helena’s Hayden Freutel answered with a 3-pointer of her own. After each team made a free throw, Hoogendoorn pretty much sealed it with an underhand flip into the basket from the paint, giving the Mustangs a 41-32 lead with 1:30 left. Hoogendoorn scored her final basket at the 45-second mark to cap another productive evening.
“Mia works so hard, I don’t know if I ever give her the credit she deserves,” Holt said.
Hoogendoorn, a four-year varsity veteran, has 522 points this season, most in the county for girls and boys, and 1,485 points for her career, which ties her for eighth place on the list of Lake County’s career scoring leaders. She can reach the 1,500-point plateau Tuesday against Upper Lake, which would make her only the sixth player, and the first from Middletown, to reach that milestone. She is averaging 22.7 points a game
Hoogendoorn, sister Izzi Hoogendoorn and Doris accounted for all of Middletown’s points. Izzi Hoogendoorn, a freshman, scored 10 of her 11 points in the first half as the Mustangs built a 24-13 lead. Doris added seven points, including two free throws early in the fourth quarter to give Middletown a double-digit lead.
“Everything was on the line for us tonight, we knew we had to play well,” Holt said. “We talked about the things we wanted to do before the game, again at halftime, and we executed.”
Freutel scored 10 points to lead the Saints, who lost their fourth straight in league play. Ella Lindquist added nine points.
In the junior varsity game, Middletown knocked off St. Helena 47-10 even without several of its starting players, who were moved up to the varsity for the game.
“We were short starters for the second straight game, having three starters pulled up to the varsity, but the girls stepped up again and brought home another win,” Middletown head coach Daryl Dacosta said. “We’re playing really good basketball right now and every girl is getting a chance to contribute.”
Emma Jones led the Mustangs (7-3, 13-8) with 15 points, Ally Cherry added 10 and Chloe Pulido had seven.
“Emma Jone stepped up big tonight, hitting four 3s,” Dacosta said.
In other girls basketball action Friday:
Kelseyville 55, Clear Lake 27
At Kelseyville, after honoring their senior during a pregame ceremony, the Kelseyville Knights took care of their business on the court with a lopsided win over archrival Clear Lake.
Kelseyville (10-2, 15-8) has two tough road games remaining, at Cloverdale (8-4) on Tuesday and at Fort Bragg (8-4) on Thursday, and will likely need to win both to earn a share of the league title. Middletown (10-2) finishes up with home games against Upper Lake (1-11) and Clear Lake (2-10).
“We led from the outset,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “The game quite frankly was out of control. Bodies were flying all over the place. Things got chippy late.”
One of the Kelseyville seniors honored, Briana Davis, put on quite a show, recording a triple-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and 12 steals, not to mention six blocks.
“It was senior night, and a bunch of our seniors played with pride and led us to the win,” Conrad said. “Briana Davis was incredible. She had numerous impressive, blocked shots, including on 3-point attempts, and one that she practically threw the ball through the floor. She had a great game.”
Another senior, Nyejzniya Krohn, added 13 points and eight rebounds.
“Nyejzniya had a nice night off the bench,” Conrad said. “Cali (Schnabl)and Olivia (Hommer) also made huge contributions as well. They were both in the right spots when they needed to be, getting deflections and steals and directing teammates.”
Kelseyville led 16-5 after one quarter and 31-12 at halftime.
Junior guard Ashlyn (AJ) Wurm led the Knights with 15 points while another junior, Mati Mateer, finished with eight points, four rebounds and three steals. Wurm also had seven rebounds.
“It was a huge positive not allowing (Clear Lake) double-digit scoring in any quarter tonight,” Conrad said. “The girls were outstanding. Two more (games) to play, and we’re focusing on one game at a time.”
Outside of Faith McIntire’s 12 points and 10 rebounds, the Cardinals’ scoring fell off to four points eachfrom Kam Cresto, Kaylah Billig and Aliyah Valadez.
Clear Lake (2-10, 5-16) hosts Lower Lake on Tuesday.
Kelseyville won the JV game 58-33 behind 26 points and 10 rebounds from Grace Hobbs, and 10 points and nine rebounds from Aubree Sperber.
The Knights, who clinched the league championship Wednesday, improved to 11-0 in league play and 21-2 overall.
Riley Hanson had eight points, nine rebounds and three assists in the win.
Kelseyville has a bye Tuesday before closing out its season Thursday in Fort Bragg.
Lower Lake 49, Upper Lake 47 (OT)
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans honored their seniors before beating Upper Lake in overtime. Brooke Watson led the Trojans (4-8, 8-15) with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, Ayla Ales added 10 points, Irianna Milano had nine and Jamiya Lee-Ayers eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Upper Lake, which was without its leading scorer (sophomore Alyssa John is out for the season with a knee injury), received 14 points and nine rebounds from Aimee Schaefers, eight points from Naomi Poe and seven more from Ashlyn Rhodes.
“The girls played a better game tonight, moved the ball well and defended at a higher level,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “We worked as a team on both ends of the floor. They had a rough start (trailing 8-1 after the first quarter) but battled to get back into the game where it stayed pretty close all night.”
The two teams were tied at 44 at the end of regulation.
“What a game!” Upper Lake coach Fawn Rave said. “Naomi Poe did good in OT driving in and getting to the free-throw line, we just couldn’t pull off the win.”
Lower Lake also won the JV game, 53-11, behind 20 points from Madelyn Garner, 14 from Lily Milano and eight from Leanna Ortega.
“We knew we needed to lock in on defense and shut down Rylee,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Wiley said. “Last game (against us) she scored 28, and Leanna Ortega’s face-guard defense held her to two. The rest of the girls were able to protect the key. I’m proud of the work they’ve put in recently.”
Lower Lake improved to 8-3 in league play and 15-4 overall.
