Middletown (21-5) hosts Fortuna Friday night in quarterfinal round at 7 p.m.
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MIDDLETOWN >> For a team needing a spark going into the second half, the Middletown Mustangs got it, from three different players, while beating Mt. Eden of Hayward 52-43 in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 3 girls basketball playoffs Tuesday night in Middletown.
Jaylee Doris provided an injection of offense in the third quarter while Harley Holley and Izzi Hoogendoorn combined for some big buckets down the stretch as the co-North Central League I champions (21-5) advanced to the quarterfinals Friday night against Fortuna beginning at 7 p.m., also at Tallman Gym.
On a night when Mia Hoogendoorn wasn’t at her best despite scoring a team-high 15 points, Holley (13 points), Doris (11 points) and Izzi Hoogendoorn (eight points) stepped right up to make sure the Mustangs’ season would continue.
“Harley Holley has played two great games since coming back (from a knee injury),” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said. “That’s really helped us.”
Doris, one of Middletown’s two seniors – Mia Hoogendoorn being the other – scored 10 of her 11 points during a 21-point third quarter that completely changed the complexion of the game. The Mustangs trailed 14-13 after one quarter and 21-20 at halftime before coming alive on offense and tightening things up on defense in the second half.
“We changed up our defense a little bit in the second half and really shut them down,” Holt said.
Middletown took a 41-31 lead into the fourth quarter and pushed its lead to as many as 13 points down the stretch, Izzi Hoogendoorn scoring six of her eight points in the final period and also logging a handful of assists on Holley baskets.
“Izzi made some great passes to her,” Holt said.
Middletown battled foul trouble throughout as both Holley and Izzi Hoogendoorn missed a sizeable chunk of playing time in the first half.
“But they both played almost the entire second half,” Holt said.
Doris and Mia Hoogendoorn ran into foul trouble in the second half, and both players finished the game with four fouls. When Doris went to the bench, Holt moved the freshman Izzi Hoogendoorn from the post to guard, a position she’s played almost exclusively before this year.
“She’s tall for a freshman, that’s why we use her inside,” Holt said. “But she’s played guard her whole life, she can pass the ball, she’s court smart, and it’s nice to have a player like that.”
Mt. Eden’s senior guard Nyla McCoy’s 25 points, including three of the Monarchs’ six 3-pointers, led the Hayward school.
“We were going to make them beat us from the outside because they really had no inside game,” Holt said. “No. 4 (McCoy) hurt us, but we did a pretty good job against them.”
When McCoy wasn’t hitting from the outside, the Monarchs (6-13) struggled to do much against Middletown, according to Holt.
Middletown, the No. 3 seed in the original 14-team Division 3 field, draws No. 6 Fortuna (15-12) on Friday. Fortuna beat No. 11 seed Kelseyville 47-29 in another first-round game Tuesday. The Huskies pulled away with a 15-2 fourth quarter.
GAME NOTES: Middletown also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division 4 playoffs during the 2021-22 season (Mia Hoogendoorn’s freshman year), losing to Gateway after beating Fort Bragg in an opening-round game at Middletown … If the Mustangs knock off Fortuna, they’ll draw the winner between No. 2 seed St. Mary’s of Albany and No. 10 seed Monte Vista of Danville in next Tuesday’s semifinal round. That game will take place at the home site of the highest surviving seed … Mia Hoogendoorn’s season points total now stands at 585, a school record for girls and just 33 points shy of Tyler Hunt’s school record of 618. Her career total is 1,548, also a school record and sixth all-time among Lake County players, and fourth among girls.
