Middletown senior reached pair of milestones, became school’s all-time scoring leader
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MIDDLETOWN >> In the course of just one basketball season, she not only scored career points 1,000 and 1,500, but became the school’s all-time points leader while also working her way up to sixth place on the career list of Lake County scoring leaders.
Mia Hoogendoorn, 2025 Middletown High School graduate and a three-sport athlete for the Mustangs, is the 2024-25 Lake County Sports girls Athlete of the Year, the second member of her family to be so honored – Luke Hoogendoorn was the boys Athlete of the Year for the 2021-22 season.
“I haven’t told him yet,” Hoogendoorn said of her older brother, a four-sport standout for the Mustangs.
Mia Hoogendoorn had plenty going for her outside of a terrific 2024-25 basketball season, one during which she scored 599 points while helping lead Middletown to a co-North Central League I championship and a berth in the North Coast Section Division 3 playoffs. She also earned first-team honors for the Mustangs in volleyball as Middletown made a run at the league title, eventually finishing third with a 10-4 record. During the track and field season in the spring, Hoogendoorn contributed to another NCL I title for the school as the Mustangs repeated as girls champions, her best event being the high jump.
Hoogendoorn’s next stop is the College of the Redwoods in Eureka where she will continue her basketball career for the Corsairs.
The daughter of Roxi Holt and Jon Hoogendoorn Sr., Hoogendoorn played four years of varsity basketball for the Mustangs. She entered her senior season with 963 career points and finished with 1,562. Only three other girls in the history of Lake County basketball have scored more points than Hoogendoorn, who is one of only six Middletown players to reach the 1,000-point plateau and the only one to attain 1,500 points.
Her pursuit of 1,000 points, the previous school record of 1,314 held by two-time Athlete of the Year Ashlyn Welton, and 1,500 points packed the gyms at Middletown and made for some exciting moments, but it also was a drain at times, according to Hoogendoorn.
“The majority of time it was fun, but not always, like when I played bad game. It was frustrating sometimes when I was slumping a little bit,” Hoogendoorn said. “It took a lot of hard work, which I was willing to put in.”
Balancing team needs against individual goals also weighed on the senior’s shoulders.
“My focus was on being the leader of my team and finishing first in league,” she said. “That was my top priority.”
While Hoogendoorn hit 1,000 career points in her second game of the season, that against Lower Lake Nov. 23 in Middletown, she would go to eclipse the school record, previously held by Welton, in a road game Jan. 17 against the Upper Lake Cougars, who also were the team the Mustangs faced Feb. 11 when Hoogendoorn reached 1,500 points on her home court. She scored another 62 in Middletown’s final three games, cementing her spot on the county’s list of all-time leaders.
“I definitely wanted to break the school record,” Hoogendoorn said. “I knew I would have to work to reach 1,500 because there weren’t many games left, but the closer I got to it, the more I wanted it.”
Hoogendoorn never played for the same basketball head coach two seasons in a row. She was a freshman when Middletown won the league title under Andy Brown, a sophomore when mom Roxi Holt took over head coaching duties and directed the team to a second-place finish, and a junior under Tony Hart, who stepped in for Holt (maternity leave) and led the Mustangs to another league title. Holt was back on the court this past season as Middletown secured its third league title in four years.
“We ran some of the same stuff the last three years, so that wasn’t too tough,” Hoogendoorn said. “My first year it was the toughest because I was a freshman fighting for a starting job.”
Added Hoogendoorn, “I’m glad I had my mom (as coach) my last year.”
Moving on to College of the Redwoods where Hoogendoorn will spend 100 percent of her sports energy on just one sport, basketball, she said her only goal is to do whatever it takes to earn a decent amount of playing time her freshman season.
“I’ll put in whatever work is necessary to be a starter or maybe the sixth or seventh player,” said Hoogendoorn, who does not relish the idea of spending any more time on the Corsairs’ bench than is necessary. “The only time I was on the bench (in high school) was when I was in foul trouble.”
As much as Middletown will miss Hoogendoorn on the basketball court, it’s a safe bet other teams in the North Central League I are thrilled to see her move on to the next step in her career. They’re happy because they never figured out how to slow her down let alone stop her.
