Trojans knocks off Cardinals, Knights pick up road win in Cloverdale
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MIDDLETOWN >> Dominating the final three quarters, the Middletown High School varsity girls basketball team knocked off the Upper Lake Cougars 63-44 in North Central League I action Friday in Middletown, maintaining a two-game lead over their closest pursuers in the standings.
Middletown (6-0 league, 12-5 overall) and Upper Lake (3-3, 13-5) are streaking in opposite directions right now, the Mustangs winners of five straight while the Cougars have dropped three in a row and five of seven since opening the season 11-0.
Taking advantage of the early foul trouble the Cougars found themselves in as starting center Aimee Schaefers picked up three quick fouls, the Mustangs were able to hurt Upper Lake inside. Although Upper Lake had a 16-13 lead after one quarter, Middletown surged ahead to stay with a 20-5 second quarter.
“We were able to get turnovers and take control,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said of a solid effort by the Mustngs’ defense. “We were executing on offense.”
Izzi Hoogendoorn finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks. Jordyn Harbison led the Mustangs with 20 points and also had nine rebounds while Harley Holley added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Alyssa John’s 20 points, including four 3-pointers, fueled Upper Lake’s offense while Rylee Zimmerschied had 17 points and three 3-pointers.
“Aimee got into foul trouble early in the game, and it hurt us in the second quarter,” Upper Lake coach Fawn Rave said. “We continue to struggle at the free-throw line, and it hurts us. I am proud of how the girls came out strong and never gave up. We just need to keep that composure throughout the game.”
Both teams wrap up the first half of their league schedules Tuesday when Middletown plays Clear Lake in Lakeport while Upper Lake hosts St. Helena.
Middletown also won the junior varsity game, rolling to a 69-17 victory behind 20 points from Grace Williams, 13 from Chloe Pulido and 12 from Ally Cherry. Williams also led the team with 10 steals and seven assists.
The Mustangs are 5-0 in league play and 12-3 overall.
In other NCL I girls action Friday:
Lower Lake 47, Clear Lake 32
At Lakeport, reeling off their third straight league win, the Lower Lake Trojans received a season-high 20 points from Jamiya Lee-Ayers while defeating the Clear Lake Cardinals.
While Clear Lake (2-4, 7-11) took a 20-19 lead into halftime, it was all Lower Lake (4-2, 7-8) in the second half as the Trojans outscored the Cardinals 28-12.
“The girls played another great defensive game tonight,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “Jamiya stepped up big tonight, scoring her season high.”
Olivia Guralas finished with eight points, Lily Milano had six and Brooke Watson five.
For Clear Lake, Faith McIntire scored 12 points, including career point No. 900, while also pulling down 11 rebounds. She needs 92 more points to reach 1,000 for her career. Freshman Amelie Davis, who also played in the JV game, added 10 points, six rebounds and four steals, and Jazmin Wiebusch had eight points and five steals.
Clear Lake hosts Middletown on Tuesday while Lower Lake is home against Cloverdale.
In the JV game, the Clear Lake Cardinals were left scrambling after two players quit the team and another player, starter Cali Albaum, was limited by a leg injury. As a result, Davis, a freshman on the varsity squad, moved down to help out the Cardinals during a 40-24 win that keeps them perfect in league play (5-0) and overall (10-0).
“Our team played excellent defense tonight, and ran a great transition game,” Clear Lake head coach Tony Farrington said. “Unfortunately, two of our players quit our team yesterday (Thursday), and our starter, Cali Albaum, is currently dealing with a leg injury, as such her play time was limited tonight. Erring on the side of caution we had to suit up freshman Amelie Davis, who plays for the varsity girls team, so she could run the floor.”
Macie Snyder and Hailey Perez led the Cardinals with 12 points apiece and Davis had 10.
“Although she did not start nor play more than half the game, Amelie made some great contributions tonight, both on offense and defense, to help stabilize our team with these changes in our roster.”
Added Farrington of his opponent, “The Trojans played hard and well, and showed great hustle.”
Eden Sparks’ 15 points and 15 rebounds powered Lower Lake (4-2, 10-5).
“We didn’t have Darleen (Benefield) today, which allowed other girls to step up,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Lackowski said. “We let them pull away in the second (quarter) and just couldn’t catch back up.”
Added Lackowski of her squad, “There is a lot of raw talent, they just need to see it in themselves.”
Kelseyville 60, Cloverdale 33
At Cloverdale, AJ Wurm’s 25 points, including career point No. 900, carried the Kelseyville Knights to a third straight win, this time against the Cloverdale Eagles (0-6, 5-11).
“We are really hitting our stride,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “Hopefully we are doing that at the right time.”
Kelseyville outscored Cloverdale 24-15 in the first quarter and 24-7 in the third to take a 52-29 lead into the final period.
“We struggled in the second, which kept them in the game, but we took off again in the third,” Conrad said. “Easy transition baskets came from active hands and quick rotations on the defensive end.”
Added Conrad, “We get a hand on the ball and have great outlets to streaking girls for layups. AJ was the beneficiary of many of those, but she also created a ton of trouble for the on the defensive side, which led to her own easy buckets as well.”
Wurm also had seven steals. She is 92 points away from 1,000 career points.
Also turning in solid contributions were Mati Mateer with 12 points and seven rebounds, Grace Hobbs with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks, Aubree Sperber with seven points and seven rebounds, and Liz Erlandson added five points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Though she didn’t score, Kylee Denham blocked four shots and pulled down five rebounds.
There was no JV game as Cloverdale does not have a JV team.
Kelseyville hits the road Tuesday to play Fort Bragg to close out the first half of its league schedule.
AJ 25 pts, 7 steals Mati Mateer 12 pts, 2 steals, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks Grace Hobbs 11 pts, 2 blocks, 3 assists, 7 rebounds Aubree Sperber 7 pts (1-three), 7 rebounds, 1 assist Liz Erlandson 5 pts, 3 assists, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, 1 block Kylee Denham 4 blocks, 5 rebounds Next up Tuesday at Fort Bragg 5 &