McAuley denied 1,000th career point, but Clear Lake still beats Middletown, 63-58
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKEPORT >> Middletown’s defense did indeed prevent Clear Lake’s Zane McAuley from scoring his 1,000th career point Tuesday night, but it was a sacrifice McAuley and the Cardinals were happy to make while beating the Mustangs 63-58 in a North Central League I varsity boys basketball action at Lakeport.
Put another way, Middletown won the battle within a battle that was taking place on the hardwood – limiting McAuley, who needed nine points to reach 1,000, to just six – but in so doing, the Mustangs may have lost track of the bigger picture, which was winning the game and moving into sole possession of first place in the league standings.
“We got a little too caught up in that (1,000-point) battle,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said after the game.
Middletown put sophomore guard Willie Tadder on McAuley throughout the game. Wherever McAuley was on the floor, Tadder was right there next to him. When McAuley came out of the game for a break, so did Tadder. When McAuley re-entered, so did Tadder, who certainly did his job. McAuley had only one point at halftime. He didn’t score a basket until the fourth quarter, but both were huge as the Cardinals opened up as much as a nine-point lead twice in the final period after trailing by as many as eight points in the first half.
“He put the seatbelt on him, locked him up,” Diehl said of Tadder, who also scored nine points for the Mustangs.
But all the attention the Mustangs put into stopping McAuley created all kinds of opportunities for his teammates.
“Middletown did a solid job defensively on him, and Zane was forcing things early in the game, he was frustrated,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “When he saw what was happening, he didn’t make it about him. He grew up a lot tonight. He started spreading it (the ball) around and that’s what got us into the game.”
Even though Tadder made McAuley a near non-factor on the offensive end, Middletown couldn’t pull away from Clear Lake. The Cardinals simply worked their other options, leading to one of their most balanced nights on offense this season, including a team-best 14 points from AJ Bruch, nine more from Tony Moreno, eight by freshman Eric Chavez, seven apiece from Jesse Hayes, Sawyer Smith and Ryken Villanueva, six from McAuley and five from Kaden Graham.
So many different Clear Lake players hit big shots down the stretch – Villanueva (two 3-pointers, Bruch (driving layup), Smith (underhand scoop shot), Graham, Hayes and McCauley, whose 3-pointer with 7:01 left made it 46-40 followed by a twisting drive inside for two points that gave Clear Lake a 60-51 cushion with 1:27 left – that if left the Mustangs a bit stunned.
“Collectively they all stepped up, and the home crowd had them going,” Diehl said of the Cardinals. “They hit some big shots down the stretch.”
The Mustangs, to their credit, never went away, especially junior point guard Harrison Brown, who knocked down some big shots of his own. Middletown got as close at 49-46 with 5:06 remaining, but a Bruch bucket and Villanueva 3-pointer put the Cardinals back up by eight at 54-46. Brown hit two free throws with 57.1 seconds remaining to slice Clear Lake’s lead to 60-54, but Bruch and Hayes combined to make three out of four free throws to put the game away at 63-54.
“That is the hardest I’ve seen them play all four quarters,” Cerezo said of the Cardinals. “They battled.”
Added Cerezo, “Everybody stepped up and gave it all they had,” Cerezo said.
“It was a physical game and some of our guys are banged up,” Diehl said. “This is the most competitive league (race) I’ve ever seen.”
Emmitt Lloyd’s 19 points, most of those coming in the first half, helped Middletown take a 27-24 lead into halftime. Clear Lake pushed 42-38 with an 18-11 third quarter. Jon Hawkins added 13 points, Brown finished with 11, including three 3-pointers, and Tadder had nine.
The same two teams will wrap up league play against each other Feb. 12 in Middletown.
In the junior varsity game, Middletown beat Clear Lake 50-40 behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from Cody de Jong and 17 points, five rebounds and three steals from Jovial Najd.
Middletown (5-2, 9-4) has won its last five league games. Clear Lake is 4-3 in league and 11-8 overall.
Clear Lake and Middletown are both at home Friday as the Cardinals host St. Helena and the Mustangs entertain Cloverdale to start the second half of league play.
