MHS boys edge Fort Bragg 69-68 for second straight one-point win
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MIDDLETOWN >> Seventeen lead changes and two Jon Hawkins dunks later, the Middletown Mustangs held off the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 69-68 in a North Central League I varsity boys basketball battle at Middletown.
It was the second straight one-point league victory for the Mustangs (3-1 league, 9-6 overall), following on the heels of a 65-64 road win Tuesday at Lower Lake.
“There were quite a few lead changes,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “It was a battle royale.”
Fort Bragg (1-2) sank a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to cut Middletown’s lead to 69-68. With the clock running, Middletown used nearly all of the five seconds allowed to inbound the ball, according to Diehl. A pass down the court used up the remaining seconds, denying Fort Bragg any chance at a game-winning shot.
“Heads-up play,” Diehl said of his team’s late clock management.
Several Mustangs had their fingerprints all over the win, according to Diehl, including sophomore Willie Tadder, who helped shut down Fort Bragg’s top scorer in the fourth quarter, holding him to six points.
Clutch free-throw shooting also played a pick part in the victory.
“Harrison (Brown) hit two free throws to put us up by four (69-65),” Diehl said.
Emmitt Lloyd, the Mustangs’ top scorer with 23 points, and Jon Hawkins, who added 20, also sank a pair of free throws down the stretch.
“We’re heading in the right direction,” Diehl said. “Pointing in the direction of jelling as a team.”
Hawkins, a senior, did everything possible to get the Mustangs a win. Besides his 20 points, he pulled down a team-best 12 rebounds, blocked six shots and had five assists. He put an exclamation point on his performance with a pair of third-quarter dunks – the first one one-handed, the second one a two-hand slam – to bring the crowd to its feet.
Brown, Middletown’s junior point guard, ran the offense exceptionally well, according to Diehl.
“He is leading the team,” Diehl said. “He’s moving the ball around well.”
Brown finished with eight points and six assists. Tadder had nine points, including a 3-pointer, and Lloyd joined Hawkins in posting a double-double as the sophomore center had 10 rebounds.
In junior varsity action, Middletown beat Fort Bragg 70-28 behind 16 points and 11 rebounds from Jovial Najd, 11 points from Donovan Clark, eight from Koa Johnson, and seven from Hudson Kelley.
“The energy on our team right now is insane,” Middletown head coach Mike Myers said. “Our defense is phenomenal.”
“We’re a totally different team (since the end of the winter break), which is a good thing to see,” Myers said.
Middletown improved to 2-2 in league and 5-4 overall.
Middletown’s teams are home Saturday to play Sonoma Academy in non-league action. The JV boys play at 2:30 p.m. and the varsity boys at 5:30 p.m.
Kelseyville 59, Upper Lake 52
At Kelseyville, Nick Arredondo heated up from the perimeter as the Kelseyville Knights (4-0 league, 6-8 overall) remained the only undefeated team atop the NCL I standings with a hard-fought win over the tough-luck Upper Lake Cougars (0-4, 6-9).
Arredondo, in a bit of a slump of late, found the range on four 3-pointers while leading the Knights with 20 points.
“I think it’s going to be that way through the whole league schedule,” Kelseyville head coach Chaze Russell said of the competitive nature of this year’s NCL I race, with several teams in the running and others capable of pulling off an upset on a given night.
“They (Cougars) played us hard all night,” Russell said. “They never went away.”
Kelseyville was never ahead by much – 8-7 after one quarter, 25-23 at halftime and 41-37 through three quarters. The Knights had as much as an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Upper Lake quickly cut that to a five-point deficit by hitting a 3-pointer.
Upper Lake finished with a dozen 3-pointers to Kelseyville’s six treys. The Cougars had opportunities down the stretch to catch the Knights, according to Russell.
“Thankfully they missed a couple of 3s,” he said.
Jair Inostroza Carrillo (12 points) and Jacob Amendola (10 points) joined Arredondo in double digits while Gordon Astrup just missed with nine points.
Upper Lake has lost its last three league games by seven, six and three (in overtime) points, so the Cougars aren’t missing by much in a competitive NCL I.
“Another tough loss in a close, back-and-forth game,” Upper Lake assistant coach Thomas Santana said. “We continue to show that we can compete with anyone. The scores just aren’t going our way.”
Tj Malicay’s 16 points powered the Cougars while Gage Faalelea, Landen Robinson and Wyatt Hallman each had nine.
“Our boys show heart night in and night out, they’re not giving up,” Santana said. “We couldn’t contain No. 22 (Arredondo) from hitting the corner 3s.”
Malicay hit four 3-pointrs for the Cougars.
“Tj Malicay continues to show how good he is,” Santana said. “He struggled early to get the ball to fall but didn’t give up and ended up with four 3-pointers. We’re proud of how aggressive our team is and we’ve been hearing great things from other coaches around the league.”
In JV action, Kelseyville pulled into a first-place atop the league standings with an 82-28 victory over Upper Lake. The Knights improved to 3-1 in league play, the same record as Clear Lake, Cloverdale and St. Helena.
Darin Sprague’s 21 points powered the Knights while Chris Salmina finished with 15 points. Hugh O’Boyle and Colt Lasbury each had nine.
“It was good to get a lot of kids into the game,” Kelseyville head coach Stan Weiper said. “The kids came out with a little more gusto (after tough losses to Fortuna and St. Helena).”
Twelve of Kelseyville’s 13 players scored.
The Knights put the game away early, going up 22-3 after one quarter.
Adam Isaacson’s seven points led Upper Lake (0-4, 0-8). Isaia Pena had six and Billy Pimentel four.
Kelseyville’s teams are on the road Tuesday against Clear Lake in Lakeport. Upper Lake’s teams return home to play Lower Lake.
Clear Lake 60, Cloverdale 49
At Lakeport, AJ Bruch scored 22 points and Zane McAuley added 15 more as Clear Lake snapped a six-game losing streak with a league win over the Cloverdale Eagles.
Clear Lake (3-1, 8-7) outscored Cloverdale 23-9 in the first quarter.
“It felt good to snap our losing streak,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “I want to thank my coaches, Jaron Mertle and Adrian Perez, for holding the fort down while I was in the hospital all week. They did a great job running practice and game planning for Cloverdale.”
Clear Lake took a 41-24 lead into halftime.
“Our team played with a lot of energy from the start and the birthday boy, Zane, got us going in the first,” Cerezo said. “I’m really proud of our guys for getting after it. AJ had a great game attacking the basket, and our bigs, Kaden (Graham), Ryken (Villanueva) and Copper (Garrity), did a great job on the glass along with Tony (Moreno). Jesse played great defense on one of their top players. It was an overall great team effort.”
With his 15 points Friday, McAuley needs 82 more to reach 1,000 for his career.
Cloverdale won the JV game. The final score was not reported.
Clear Lake’s teams host Kelseyville on Tuesday.
St. Helena 56, Lower Lake 41
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans fell to the St. Helena Saints in what Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski called a “very physical game.”
Kaimelo Connolly and Steven Rich scored eight points apiece for Lower Lake (1-3, 7-8) while Adrian Negrete and Noah Hakala each had five.
St. Helena won the JV game 57-44 despite 24 points from Lower Lake’s Roy Percoats.
“Not a bad game,” Lower Lake head coach Latoya Fortino said. “We made some mistakes but also did some good things. St. Helena did a better job of finishing their shots. They also hit some key 3s that put them ahead.”
Ryder Steffen scored 12 points for the Trojans (1-3, 8-6) while Adrian Guzman and Zane Maninger had four points apiece.
Lower Lake’s teams are on the road Tuesday against Upper Lake.
