Healdsburg finally warms up in second half to beat Middletown in REIBT opener
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HEALDSBURG >> Considering the Healdsburg Greyhounds went almost 11 minutes without scoring a single point in the first half of their first-round game against the Middletown Mustangs on Thursday night in the opening round of the 76th annual Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament at Healdsburg, their comeback and 49-39 victory was quite the accomplishment.
For Middletown head coach Roxi Holt’s Mustangs (4-2), it was a missed opportunity to win a fifth straight game and advance into the winner’s bracket in Northern California’s oldest basketball tournament.
“They made their free throws and we didn’t,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said. “And we had way too many turnovers and missed layups.”
This game was most definitely a tale of two halves.
Healdsburg (3-4) scored four quick points to open the game and didn’t score again until there was 3:17 left in the first half, ending a run of 12 straight Middletown points.
Sarah Fetters buried a 3-pointer from the wing to lift Middletown’s lead into double digits at 15-5, at which point the Greyhounds began to show signs of life on offense, that momentum carrying over into the second half. Healdsburg closed to 15-12 before a Fetters putback and a pair of Autumn Clark free throws gave the Mustangs a 19-12 halftime lead.
Jordyn Harbison’s steal and layup early in the third quarter gave Middletown a 24-17 lead, at which point the Greyhounds found their shooting groove, fueled by a handful of Mustang turnovers.
A 7-0 Greyhounds run tied the score at 24 with 4:18 left in the quarter. Izzi Hoogendoorn buried a mid-range jumper at the 2:28 mark to give Middletown its final lead of the night at 26-24. Healdsburg surged ahead 27-26 with 1:02 remaining on Amber Dhiman’s baseline 3-pointer. After a Middletown turnover, Ava Wickersham scored inside and drew a foul with 29.2 seconds remaining in the period. She hit the free throw to make it 30-26.
Healdsburg opened up as much as a 10-point lead, 37-27, with 5:08 left in the game before Middletown closed to 37-32 on a Harbison 3-pointer with 4:22 remaining.
Middletown was still hanging in there when Fetters sank a pair of free throws to reduce the deficit to 39-34 with 3:29 left, but any chance to close that gap further went by the wayside as the Mustangs struggled to knock down their free throws. They were able to get to the line, but couldn’t do much there, including a critical 1-for-5 stretch.
The Mustangs were never closer than eight points in the final two minutes.
“We’ve got things we need to clean up, fortunately they are correctable things,” Holt said as the Mustangs advance to play Tamalpais in the consolation semifinals Friday at 3:30 p.m. “Healdsburg was a good team.”
Hoogendoorn led a balanced Middletown attack with 11 points, Fetters finished with nine, Harbison eight and Harley Holley seven. Holley played the entire fourth quarter with four fouls.
