Huskies pull away in third quarter, beat Mustangs 60-47 in Division 3 girls quarterfinals
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
MIDDLETOWN >> The Middletown Mustangs appeared to be on their way to another win, this time against Fortuna High School in the quarterfinals of the Division 3 girls basketball playoffs Friday night at Middletown High School, but the Huskies, and especially junior guard Macee Marquez, made sure that didn’t happen.
Marquez, who played a major role in Fortuna’s 47-29 first-round win over Kelseyville Tuesday at Kelseyville, struck again, this time with 23 points, including six 3-pointers – four in the second half – as the Huskies ended the Middletown Mustangs’ season, and the outstanding career of Mia Hoogendoorn, 60-47.
Marquez didn’t single-handedly beat the Mustangs (21-6), but she certainly came up big during crunch time. Middletown scored the first basket of the third quarter to open up a 35-27 lead – its biggest of the game – only to watch it disappear in a matter of minutes.
“We couldn’t rotate (the defense) fast enough on those 3-pointers,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said of the Huskies’ crisp passing around the perimeter. “Our hat’s off to them. They played a great game.”
Marquez buried the first of her four second-half 3-pointers with 6:02 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 35-35, the first time since late in the first quarter than the Mustangs weren’t in the lead. A Fortuna free throw briefly put the Huskies in front, but a Jaylee Doris 3-pointer gave Middletown a 38-36 ead. Fortuna answered with a 7-0 run capped by a Marquez 3-pointer that made it 43-38 in the Huskies’ favor. They never looked back.
The Mustangs missed a chance to close the gap after sinking just one of four free throws over the next couple of minutes, right before the game took a decisive turn as Kalie Chittenden buried a 3-pointer, was fouled on the play, and added the free throw for a 47-39 Fortuna lead with less than a minute to go in the quarter.
Middletown was able to get a point closer by quarter’s end, but the damage had been done and there really wasn’t much the Mustangs could do about it. A gassed Hoogendoorn needed a break but there was no way Holt could pull her out of the game at that point.
“Not if we wanted to remain competitive,” Holt said.
A little more than a minute into the fourth quarter Marquez buried another 3-pointer that was briefly offset by a Doris 3-pointer. The Huskies put back a miss for a 53-44 lead, at which point Sarah Fetters drained a 3-pointer following a 3-point miss by teammate Hoogendoorn.
Any thoughts of a comeback ended with another Marquez 3-pointer, a shot from the corner that pushed the Huskies’ lead to 56-47. Middletown then turned the ball over, setting up a layup by Olivia Scilacci. A putback basket by Evalynn Little, who did a good job rebounded the ball on both ends for the Huskies, closed out the scoring with 1:32 remaining.
“They were fast and aggressive,” Holt said of the Huskies. “They played tight man defense, we expected that, but we didn’t expect them to take away the middle from us and our ability to drive.”
Half of Fortuna’s points came on 10 3-pointers. Jorlynn Villalvazo added 10 points as the Huskies benefited from a balanced attack that also featured eight points by Mariah Bravo and six apiece from Chittenden and Taylor Heussler.
“That had other girls besides her (Marquez) that could shoot the three, which made it tougher to stop them,” Holt said.
Fortuna led 12-5 in the first quarter before Middletown came alive on offense and scored 13 of the next 16 points. Fetters was especially hot, scoring eight of her 12 points in the quarter. Hoogendoorn also had six of her team-leading 14 in the opening period.
The teams spent the second quarter trading baskets, the half ending with Middletown up 33-27.
Doris, one of two Middletown seniors, finished with eight points in her final high school game while freshman Izzi Hoogendoorn had six.
Mia Hoogendoorn, her next step college, closed out the season with 599 points, pushing her career total to 1,562. She is Middletown’s all-time career scoring leader, and the 599 points are the most by a Mustang girl in a single season. In terms of career points, she ranks sixth on the county’s all-time list, fourth among girls. The 599 points is the 13th-best single-season total in county history, sixth among girls.
“Never did we every imagine this is what she would do,” Holt said of her daughter’s amazing senior season and career. “She’s incredible. She works year-round, there is no offseason for her. She’ll take any opportunity to get better. She’s still a presence on the court even when she’s not scoring. We’re definitely going to miss her.”
Holt said the Mustangs had absolutely no reason to feel bad about Friday’s loss considering the season they put together.
“I’m proud of the girls, they had a great season,” Holt said. “We were fortunate enough to get two home (playoff) games. We did what we came to accomplish this season.”
Middletown tied Kelseyville for the North Central League I championship, giving the Mustangs three league titles in four years. They return starters Izzi Hoogendoorn, Harley Harley and Jordyn Harbison (missed the playoffs because of illness) next season along with Fetters.
