Varsity Mustangs win battle of North Central League I co-leaders, now alone in first
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
MIDDLETOWN >> Sticking with what they do best, the Middletown Mustangs rebounded, pounded the ball down low, and used some opportune defense to withstand a first-half offensive explosion by Kelseyville guard Jair Inostroza Carrillo and beat the Knights 70-65 in a back-and-fort North Central League I varsity boys basketball battle Tuesday night in Middletown.
Middletown (7-2 league, 14-7 overall) won the battle of league co-leaders and now owns the top spot in the NCL I standings all by itself. While the race is far from over, according to head coach Jake Diehl, there was much satisfaction to be had by the Mustangs, who have come a long way from the team that lost 68-56 to the Knights on Dec. 16 in Kelseyville, the first league meeting between the two squads.
“Those guys came after us with all they had,” Kelseyville head coach Chaze Russell said of the Mustangs. “They were able to take advantage of their big guys (Jon) Hawkins and (Emmitt) Lloyd. And No. 11 (Willie Tadder) was another player that helped beat us with some crucial steals.”
“They gave us their all,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said of the Knights (6-3, 8-12). “What their coach is doing up there is really working out.”
While Middletown now has a one-game lead over Kelseyville in the NCL I standings and a two-game cushion over Clear Lake and Fort Bragg, both of those teams dropping to 5-4 with road losses on Tuesday, Diehl isn’t about to declare victory in what has been the wildest NCL I race in a long, long time.
“It’s not a done deal until the last league game is played,” Diehl cautioned.
Likewise, the Knights have ample opportunity to climb back to the top of the standings. Although they won’t face the Mustangs again this season unless it’s in the playoffs, the NCL I race has plenty of teams capable of being the spoiler on a given night.
Middletown and Kelseyville brought a lot of offensive firepower to bear Tuesday night but neither could shake the other. The Mustangs held as much as a seven-point lead in the first quarter while the Knights were up by as many as five points late in the third quarter. Each time a team went on a mini-run and looked like it was in the process of pulling away, the other team hit a huge shot to end the run and reverse momentum. The Knights and Mustangs stayed within a possession or two of each other almost the entire way.
The difference in the end was Middletown’s ability to score down low late in the second half as well as a handful of critical steals by Tadder, who is also beginning to find his groove on offense. A tenacious defender, the sophomore finished with 18 points, joining team leader Hawkins (20 points), Emmitt Lloyd (12 points) and Harrison Brown (11 points) in double digits.
“They stay composed and found their big men there at the end,” Russell said of Hawkins and Lloyd.
Middletown was trailing 54-49 late in the third quarter following a Carrillo 3-pointer. Carrillo almost single-handedly kept Kelseyville in the game in the first half, scoring 27 of his team’s 42 points, and hitting seven 3-pointers along the way, as the Knights took a 42-41 lead into halftime against a Middletown squad that made all five of its 3-pointers in the first two quarters (the Knights had 10 treys in the first half).
“Both teams were shooting the ball well,” Diehl said. “He (Carrillo) did keep them in the game. He couldn’t miss.”
Added Russell, “He kept us in the game. They (Mustangs) were hitting a bunch of shots, too, so we needed it.”
The Knights and Carrillo, who finished with 32 points, did cool off some in the second half, opening the door for the Mustangs, who scored all of their points in the second half from inside the 3-point arc.
After Carrillo’s 3-pointer made it 54-49, Middletown really began to assert itself down low despite the efforts of Kelseyville’s Gordon Astrup, a solid presence in the paint. Hawkins drew a shooting foul and hit one free throw, then Tadder stole the ball and drove inside for a layup to make it 54-52. Middletown tied the game at 54 with 1:26 left in the quarter, then surged ahead 57-54 on a Hawkins three-point play as the senior scored down low, drew the foul and added the free throw.
And then, with Kelseyville about to set up for a final shot in the quarter as the last seconds ticked off the clock, Tadder gave Middletown a huge momentum boost by picking a Kelseyville player clean near midcourt and scoring on a layup as time expired, making it 59-54.
While the Knights opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer by Nick Arredondo, who scored all 15 of his points from beyond the 3-point line, Middletown continued to dominate the paint. Hawkins scored inside for a 61-57 lead, and Lloyd’s three-point play with 4:26 to go made it 64-59.
Kelseyville battled back to 64-63 on a pair of Astrup free throws and a short jump shot by Carrillo with 2:55 remaining. Both teams missed chances after that, and it wasn’t until Tadder came up with another steal and layup at the 2:25 mark that Middletown went up 66-63. Riley Lopez scored on baseline shot with 2:00 left to again cut the Mustangs’ lead to one point at 66-65, but Hawkins got to the line again after hammering his way inside and drawing a foul. He made the second of his two free throws for a 67-65 lead.
Kelseyville missed a 3-pointer for the lead before Lloyd sealed the victory with an off-balance basket down low, the assist coming from Hawkins, who also pulled down the rebound after the 3-point miss by the Knights seconds earlier.
Brown added a free throw with 6.9 seconds remaining for the game’s final point.
Astrup (10 points) joined Carrillo and Arredondo in double digits. Those three players accounted for 57 of the Knights’ 65 points.
“All it takes in a game like that is one or two little mistakes to change things,” Russell said. “They played just a little bit better than we did and won the game. It was a great game.”
Added Diehl, “We stepped up at the right times. We never hung our heads. Kelseyville played a great game.”
In the junior varsity game, Middletown won its seventh straight league game and eighth consecutive game overall with a 42-37 victory over Kelseyville. As a result, the Mustangs and Knights both share the league lead at 7-2, each with five games remaining.
“They deserved to win it and we deserved to lose it,” Kelseyville head coach Stan Weiper said.
While Kelseyville (7-2, 10-6) jumped out to a 9-1 lead and held a 16-9 advantage after one quarter, Middletown (7-2, 11-4) closed to 23-20 by halftime and took a 34-31 lead into the fourth quarter. The Mustangs led throughout the final period, going up by as many as eight points on two occasions.
Cody de Jong scored 15 of his team-leading 18 points in the second half for the Mustangs. Jovial Najd and Koa Johnson added eight points apiece.
“He set the bar tonight,” Middletown head coach Mike Myers said of de Jong.
Hugh O’Boyle and Darin Sprague finished with 13 points apiece for the Knights, who had their six-game winning streak snapped, and Chris Salmina had five.
Middletown’s teams are home Friday against Lower Lake while Kelseyville returns home to play St. Helena.
