Varsity loses 44-42 thriller, JVs dominate Rancho Cotate 54-24
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ROHNERT PARK >> Izzi Hoogendoorn just missed a triple-double in her season debut Monday night as the Middletown Mustangs, trailing nearly the entire way, turned a double-digit deficit into a last-second thriller, falling 44-42 to the Rancho Cotate Cougars in Rohnert Park.
Hoogendoorn, a sophomore, finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine steals before fouling out late in the fourth quarter of a 37-37 game.
“She was the total spark we needed as we made a run in the second half,” Middletown interim head coach Shannon Williams said.
Though basketball season started more than a month ago, Middletown’s varsity is a team still coming together, according to Williams, who is filling in for head coach Roxi Holt until she returns from maternity leave.
“This was our first outing with out team playing together,” Williams said. “We have only had two practices since soccer ended, and even still we haven’t had a single practice with our entire squad yet. We started a little slow and it took a bit to get into a rhythm. We had some good looks, but our shots weren’t falling in the first half.”
Middletown (0-1) trailed 12-6 after one quarter and 21-12 at halftime. The Mustangs were down by as many as 10 points in the third quarter before they began to chip away at the Cougars’ lead, led by Hoogendoorn, Harley Holley (10 points) and guards Sarah Fetters and Jordyn Harbison, both with seven points in the game.
Behind 32-24 after three quarters, Middletown went to work, closing to 35-32 on a Harbison free throw with 4:46 left and to 37-35 on a Hoogendoorn basket, her final two points of the game, with 3:20 remaining. Hoogendoorn fouled out with 2:24 left, but Holley’s basket with 2:11 left tied the score at 37-37.
Middletown took its first lead of the game a few seconds later when Autumn Clark hit the second of two free throws to put the Mustang up 38-37. The lead then changed hands on three straight possessions – a Sierra Wilmes basket gave Rancho Cotate a 39-38 lead, Holley scored inside to put Middletown back up 40-39, and freshman Isabelle Ellison drained a 3-pointer with 1:24 remaining to make it 42-40 in Rancho Cotate’s favor.
Wilmes scored again with 1:02 left to push the Cougars’ lead to 44-40, which is where the score remained until a Holley basket sliced that lead to 44-42.
Middletown then caught a big break when Rancho Cotate turned it over while trying to run out the clock with 17.3 seconds remaining. Middletown had two shots in the final seconds, the first a 3-pointer for the lead, the second a 2-pointer for the tie, but missed both before time expired.
“We just ran out of time in the end, but I was very proud of the team and how hard they all worked,” Williams said. “Playing against a very large school with some incredible athletes, our girls really battled.”
Williams praised the “aggressive defense” of Hoogendoorn for fueling the second-half comeback. She also credited junior point guard Harbison with a “beautiful job” running the offense and seniors Fetters and Holley with “stepping up” in a physical game.
Clark, who finished with three points, joined the team right out of soccer season as the Mustangs finished second in the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs last week.
Fetters finished six rebounds and six steals while Harbison had five rebounds and four assists.
JV game
Middletown’s junior varsity squad fell behind in the opening minutes of the first quarter before coming back to completely dominate Rancho Cotate 54-24.
The Mustangs trailed 3-2 but led 14-3 after one quarter and 24-3 before Rancho Cotate finally scored again in the second quarter. Middletown took a 32-7 lead into halftime and held a 44-14 advantage through three quarters.
Chloe Pulido’s 16 points paced the Mustangs (1-0) while freshman Grace Williams scored 12 in her high school debut. Emma Jones added nine more.
“Chloe really stepped up to do big things for us in the season opener and set the tone for the rest of the team,” Middletown head coach Daryl Dacosta said. “Our defense was really solid tonight, the ladies were working great together and communicating on both sides of the ball. Grace got into foul trouble early but was able to find her composure and play solid defense down the stretch while also contributing on the offensive side of the ball.”
Added Dacosta, “This was a great all-around team win. All 10 girls contributed tonight, and we were able to bring home the win.”
Jones pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Cherry had a team-high six steals to go along with six points.
Middletown’s teams return to action Tuesday at home against Casa Grande. The JV game tips off at 5 p.m. with the varsity game to follow.
