Middletown JV boys go undefeated, win Lower Lake JV Tournament
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ST. HELENA >> Swett High School of Crockett beat Middletown 60-41 in the consolation championship game of the Sutter Home Classic on Saturday at St. Helena High School, dropping the Mustangs’ early-season record to 1-3.
That’s the bad news. The good news is beginning Monday the Mustangs and head coach Jake Diehl will have a full compliment of players on the hardwood following the end of the football season. And it couldn’t come at a better time as Middletown opens its North Central League I schedule on the road Tuesday in Cloverdale.
The energy with a full squad will probably be a step up from Middletown’s energy in the first half against Swett.
“We came out pretty flat,” Diehl said as the Mustangs fell behind 10-3 in the first quarter and trailed 29-9 at halftime. “In the second half we came out with a different energy.”
Willie Tadder led Middletown with 12 points, Harrison Brown added 11 and Cody Perez had seven. Nalu Johnson chipped in four points but led the Mustangs with 12 rebounds.
“We’re young, we’ve got a good squad,” Diehl said. “We’ve got to gel and you’ll see a different team out there.”
In other tournament action Saturday:
Upper Lake 58, Roseland University Prep 45
At St. Helena, the Upper Lake Cougars clinched seventh place in the Sutter Home Tournament by beating the Roseland University Prep Knights.
The Cougars (2-2) agreed to enter the tournament in the consolation bracket Friday because the tournament was short a team, and they lost to Middletown before coming back Saturday to defeat the Knights.
“A great game on the defensive side for us,” Upper Lake coach Thomas Santana said. “We fought hard. Going into the fourth we were tied 40-40. We told our boys for us to get the win we just had to give it everything we had for eight minutes, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Sophomore TJ Malicay had a huge game for the Cougars with 31 points, including four 3-pointers, and 13 steals.
“He was very aggressive in driving to the paint,” Santana said. “On the defensive side TJ was active. He had 13 steals but also had so many deflections. I guess the distraction of it being his birthday didn’t get in the way.”
Landen Robinson and Antario Wyman finished with nine points apiece and Tyler Collins had eight.
“Antario and Landen both made themselves very active on the boards alongside Tyler Collins,” Santana said. “We were very undersized compared to RUP, so Tyler being our only big, he got the help rebounding from Landen and Antario.”
Upper Lake opens its North Central League I schedule on the road Tuesday in Fort Bragg.
Cloverdale 57, Lower Lake 37
At Boonville, the Cloverdale Eagles beat the Lower Lake Trojans in the third-place game of the Redwood Classic in Boonville.
Raijhier McKneely and Noah Hakala had 12 points apiece for Lower Lake (2-2). Hakala and Adrian Negrete each had 3-pointers.
Lower Lake hosts Kelseyville on Tuesday in the league opener for both teams.
Middletown 74, Round Valley 28 (JV)
At Lower Lake, the Middletown junior varsity boys basketball team wrapped up a 3-0 run in the Lower Lake JV Tournament with a lopsided win over Round Valley.
Jovial Najd led the Mustangs (3-1) with 12 points and seven rebounds while Carter Rarrick added 10 points and seven rebounds. Donovan Clark, Jonah Perez and Hudson Kelley had seven points apiece, and Dre Goins had six points and 11 rebounds.
Najd, Koa Johnson and Lucas Hernandez were named to the All-Tournament team.
Lower Lake 54, Upper Lake 43
At Lower Lake, Ryder Steffen scored 16 points while Kyris Kennedy and Roy Percoats each had 13 as the Lower Lake Trojans beat Upper Lake in the third-place game at the Lower Lake JV Tournament.
“It was an exciting game for us,” Lower Lake head coach Latoya Fortino said.
Lower Lake improved to 2-1.
Middletown 67, Lower Lake 25
At Lower Lake, Middletown defeated Lower Lake early Saturday in the winner’s semifinals of the Lower Lake JV Tournament.
Najd led the Mustangs with 16 points and five steals, Fernandez had 12 points and eight rebounds, Johnson added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Clark had 10 points.
“We worked the ball around pretty well,” Middletown head coach Mike Myers said. “We set up our press, and it got us a lot of steals and baskets.”
Steffen’s seven points led the Trojans and Kennedy had four.
Lower Lake 46, Round Valley 36 (Friday)
At Lower Lake, in opening-round action Friday at the Lower Lake JV Tournament, the host Trojans defeated Round Valley.
“The boys came out after our halftime talk with a bit more control and intensity,” Fortino said.
Steffen’s 19 points led Lower Lake. Damie John added eight and Adrian Guzman six.
