Middletown girls beat St. Helena, improve to 5-0 in league standings
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KELSEYVILLE >> Opening up a 38-17 lead in the first half against their archrivals, the Kelseyville Knights cruised to 50-31 win over the Clear Lake Cardinals in North Central League I varsity girls basketball action Tuesday night in Kelseyville.
“I thought our girls played absolutely fantastic,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said of a Knights squad down to seven players because of injury. “We played about as perfect a first half as we could.”
All seven Knights found the scoring column as Kelseyville (3-2 league, 11-4 overall) moved into a four-way tie for second place in the league standings. AJ Wurm led the way with 21 points, six steals and three assists while Aubree Sperber added nine points, Mati Mateer six points and a team-high 10 rebounds, and Liz Erlandson six points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds.
“Liz Erlandson sparked us with some great energy and hustle plays,” Conrad said. “AJ had her normal great game, Mati was solid from start to finish, and we had really good contributions from Aubree and Grace (Hobbs).”
Faith McIntire’s double-double of 11 points, including two 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds powered the Cardinals (2-3, 7-10). Kam Cresto added eight points and four rebounds.
“When we get it going like that we are tough to beat,” Conrad said. “I feel like we are really connecting the last couple of games. This was the second straight game every girl scored.”
Kelseyville returns to action Friday against Cloverdale while Clear Lake hosts Lower Lake.
Clear Lake won the junior varsity game 38-25 to remain undefeated in league play and on the season, even if head coach Tony Farrington wasn’t thrilled with his team’s overall effort.
“Unfortunately, this was a tough night for us, despite our win,” Farrington said. “We struggled to protect the ball and not make poor passing decisions, which results in a high number of turnovers.”
Macie Snyder led the Cardinals (4-0, 9-0) with 10 points while Camara Wittman, Ava Gamble and Hailey Perez all had six.
“The girls played with some grit and determination, and our elevated defense kept us competitive throughout the game. In the end, their fighting spirit resulted in us persevering and that tenacious fight made all the difference.”
Carly Gleason’s 13 points, five steals and four rebounds led the Knights (2-3, 6-6).
“The girls fought hard tonight, unfortunately our turnovers and the foul ratio just couldn’t quite get us to the win,” Kelseyville head coach Liz Berry said.
Brooke Poff finished with six points, five rebounds and five steals.
“Brooke Poff worked her butt off getting us steals and helping with our transition buckets,” Berry said. “Carly Gleason hit some really big shots for us in the third quarter. We lost control of the game in the fourth and just couldn’t finish it out.”
In other NCL I girls action Tuesday:
Lower Lake 38, Upper Lake 34
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans (3-2, 6-8) handed the Upper Lake Cougars (3-2, 13-4) a second straight league loss behind a balanced scoring attack that featured eight points from Leanna Ortega, seven from Mary Watson, six from Brooke Watson and five each from Irianna Milano and Jamiya Lee-Ayers.
Lower Lake trailed 20-18 at halftime but pushed ahead with a 15-6 third quarter.
“We played another pretty solid defensive game and took care of the ball again tonight with only 11 turnovers,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “Total team effort to get the job done. We’re trying to stay in the thick of things and the girls are working really hard to improve where we can.”
Rylee Zimmerschied’s 13 points, six rebounds and four steals powered the Cougars, who have lost four of their last six after an 11-0 start. Aimee Schaefers contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.
“Another tough loss,” Upper Lake head coach Raelene Cromwell said. “Our team needs to block out better. We missed second shots and layups.”
Alyssa John added six points, five rebounds and three blocks while Camila Martin had four points and seven rebounds.
“We need to focus back to the basics and work the ball around,” Cromwell said.
Lower Lake travels to Lakeport to play Clear Lake on Friday while Upper Lake visits Middletown.
The Trojans also won the JV game, 48-15, behind 17 points from Darlene Benefield and 10 from Eden Sparks.
“Everyone got some solid minutes,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Lackowski said. “Our focus was defense and we rotated well to protect the paint. Darlene not only found her shot but also stepped up as a point guard running the floor and moving the ball.”
Lower Lake improved to 4-1 in league and 10-4 overall.
Upper Lake (1-3, 3-7) scoring was not reported.
Middletown 39, St. Helena 31
At Middletown, it might be a transition season for last year’s co-NCL I champions, but the Middletown Mustangs and head coach Roxi Holt find themselves with a two-game lead over their closest pursuers in the league standings after beating the St. Helena Saints at the Tallman Gym.
Middletown (5-0, 11-5) now owns a two-game lead over St. Helena, Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Upper Lake, all 3-2.
“The way we started out, I thought to myself, ‘This is going to be a long night,’” Holt said. “We started off very slow and couldn’t finish at the rim.”
Middletown trailed by 11 at one point, but the Mustangs reversed the momentum when Izzi Hoogendoorn (11 points) hit the team’s lone 3-pointer on the night, that in the third quarter.
“Izzi popped a 3-pointer and that boosted our energy,” Holt said. “Everything just shifted and we took off.”
Harley Holley also finished with 11 points despite playing the entire fourth quarter with four fouls.
“That was critical,” Holt said of Holley remaining in the game and avoiding a fifth foul. “One of St. Helena’s top players picked up her fourth foul and came out. I told the girls we need to take advantage of this and we did.”
Autumn Clark added 10 points in the win and Jordyn Harbison had five.
Middletown hosts Upper Lake on Friday.
Middletown also won the JV game, 62-7, to improve to 4-0 in league and 11-3 overall.
The Mustangs were able to empty the bench early while opening up a 29-3 halftime lead.
Nevaeh Wienke led Middletown with 11 points, Emma Davis finished with 10, Chloe Pulido added nine, Ally Cherry and Jaquelin Nunez each had eight, and Emma Jones chipped in another seven.
Nine of 10 Middletown players found the scoring column.