Middletown, Upper Lake, Clear Lake squads also post league victories
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ST. HELENA >> Trailing by nine points early in the third quarter, Mati Mateer’s 3-pointer sparked a Kelseyville comeback Friday night as the Knights beat the St. Helena Saints 43-35 in North Central League I varsity girls basketball action at St. Helena.
Perhaps the only team happier about the outcome than the Knights (7-3 league, 15-5 overall) was Middletown, which beat Lower Lake 34-27 on Friday night in Middletown and now leads both the Saints (7-3, 13-6) and Knights by two games in the league standings with only four remaining for each school.
“I thought tonight was a well-played, well-executed game from both teams,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “It was a really fun game to be a part of. St Helena is well coached. They mix up their defenses well and are really disciplined on the offensive end.”
On a night when Kelseyville guard AJ Wurm needed 20 points to reach 1,000 for her career, the senior settled for 12 while also distributing the ball effectively to her teammates and playing strong defense. The Knights also rebounded from a 6-for-18 free-throw effort against Middletown in their previous game, a 41-36 loss, by hitting nine of 12 free throws against the Saints. Grace Hobbs (11 points) was a large part of that as she went 5-for-6 from the line, including two free throws with 2:16 remaining that boosted Kelseyville’s lead to 40-35. Hobbs also scored a basket at the 3:50 mark of the fourth quarter to make it 38-35.
“That helped us put the game away,” Conrad said of Hobbs’ four-point surge, including the two all-important free throws.
Kelseyville trailed the entire third quarter but ended the period with an 11-4 run that cut St. Helena’s lead to 32-30.
Just seconds into the fourth quarter, sophomore Aubree Sperber’s 3-pointer, her only points of the game, put Kelseyville ahead to stay 33-32. Wurm’s basket down low made it 35-32 and a free throw by Mateer, who tied Wurm for Kelseyville scoring honors with 12 points, increased the Knights’ lead to 36-32.
St Helena answered with a 3-pointer at the 3:50 mark, its final points of the game as things would turn out.
Kelseyville outscored them 7-0 the rest o the way, including a Mateer basket with just under a minute left that all but sealed the victory at 42-35.
“I thought the game turned in our favor late with a few deciding factors,” Conrad said. “I thought we had more gas left in our tank than they did. They were tired. We executed better down the stretch, and we made free throws.”
Kelseyville lost 50-46 to St. Helena when the two teams met Jan. 6 in Kelseyville. The Knights’ only other league losses are to Middletown, which is in the driver’s seat as far as the league race is concerned.
Wurm, who has 992 career points, never pushed the issue against a St. Helena defense that was focused on stopping her. Instead, she was patient in working the ball to open teammates such as Mateer, Hobbs and Liz Erlandson (five points). Late in the game when she had a clear path to the basket, Wurm smartly pulled up after crossing half court, opting to take precious time off the clock instead of rushing a shot.
“They made it tough on AJ to have chances to score,” Conrad said. “I thought she did a good job of letting the game come to her and not forcing things. Mati had another big night for us, including helping shut down their big scorer in the second half. We didn’t give her a bucket.”
Added Conrad, “Liz Erlandson gave us great effort all over the floor and her hustle plays really made a difference.”
Wurm had six assists, Mateer seven rebounds, and Hobbs two blocks. Erlandson and Sperber finished with six and five rebounds, respectively.
During a back-and-forth first half, the two teams were tied 12-all after one quarter. Kelseyville held a 17-16 lead late in the second quarter, but St. Helena ended the first half with a 6-0 run to go up 22-17.
St. Helena and Kelseyville are still in the league race, but they’ll have to win their final four games and get some help from other league teams to catch Middletown.
St. Helena forfeited to Kelseyville in the junior varsity game because it did not have enough players to field a team.
Middletown 34, Lower Lake 27
At Middletown, Izzi Hoogendoorn’s 20 points helped carry the Middletown Mustangs to a hard-fought win over the Lower Lake Trojans, a victory that gives the Mustangs (9-1, 15-6) a two-game lead in the NCL I standings as they move closer to a third straight league championship.
“Physical game tonight, but we are happy we got away with the win,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said. “It was sloppy at times for sure. We need to clean things up in certain areas, but the girls worked hard like always.”
“It was a tough night shooting,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “We went 8-for-42 from the field and 9-for-18 from the free-throw line. The defense played hard, we just struggled offensively tonight.”
Added Tubbs, “Both teams came to play and there was no shortage of physical play.”
Irianna Milano and Jamiya Lee-Ayers scored eight points apiece for Lower Lake and Leanna Ortega had six, all on 3-pointers.
Hoogendoorn also had eight rebounds and five steals for the Mustangs. Autumn Clark added five points and Jordyn Harbison had four. Harley Holley led the team with 11 rebounds.
“Which was huge,” Holt said of Holley’s rebounds.
Middletown led 15-6 at halftime and 29-15 through three quarters before Lower Lake closed the gap down the stretch.
“Grace Williams came in in the third quarter and hit a big 3 for us,” Holt said. “Izzi followed by hitting another 3. That really fired us up.”
Middletown hosts Fort Bragg on Tuesday while Lower Lake travels to St. Helena.
In the JV game, Middletown improved to 8-0 in league play and 16-3 overall with a win over the Lower Lake Trojans (6-3, 13-6). Ahead 8-7 after one quarter, Middletown broke things open with a 15-3 second quarter and never looked back.
“We came out a little slow,” Middletown head coach Daryl Dacosta said. “It had been a couple of games since we had all five of our starters on the court at the same time. Lower Lake came to play. Every time we play them, we know it’s going to be a battle.”
Ally Cherry’s 15 points propelled Middletown while Emma Davis added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Grace Williams had 10 points.
“I was really proud of the girls,” Dacosta said. “Our shot percentage has been off the last couple of games, but they turned it around last night and really focused on quality shots and not turning the ball over.”
Eden Sparks led the Trojans with 13 points, Lexi Mitchell added six and Darleen Benefield five.
“We played amazing defense in the first and third (quarters),” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Lackowski said. “Some injuries ad foul trouble took us out of the game. There has definitely been some improvement from the first time we played, but it just wasn’t enough.”
Upper Lake 57, Cloverdale 52
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars opened their league schedule with three straight wins before losing four straight, but have since answered with another three-game winning streak after taking care of business against the Cloverdale Eagles (0-10).
“I believe in my team and they are starting to believe in themselves again,” Upper Lake head coach Raelene Cromwell said. “Their defense has improved tremendously.”
Aimee Schaefers (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Alyssa John (13 points, 14 rebounds) both had double-doubles to spark Upper Lake. Rylee Zimmerschied added 14 points and eight rebounds as Upper Lake improved to 6-4 in league play and 16-6 overall.
“They moved the ball around with patience,” Cromwell said. “Everyone is working hard from the starters to the ones coming off the bench.”
Sofia Cruz added nine points and four rebounds.
Upper Lake host Kelseyville on Tuesday.
There was no JV game.
Clear Lake 55, Fort Bragg 27
At Fort Bragg, Faith McIntire’s 20 points and 20 rebounds helped lift Clear Lake to a win over Fort Bragg, snapping the Cardinals’ three-game league losing streak.
Amelie Davis added 17 points, 13 rebounds and six steals as Clear Lake improved to 4-6 in the league standings and 9-13 overall. Jazmin Wiebusch added nine points while Kam Cresto finished with four points and 19 rebounds.
Clear Lake put the game away with a 20-2 second quarter.
McIntire, a senior, needs 45 points to reach 1,000 for her career.
Clear Lake also won the JV game, 55-24, behind 15 points from Hailey Perez, 11 from Cali Albaum, nine from Camara Wittman and six from Aleeya Bondi.
The Cardinals went into halftime leading only 22-18, but a 33-6 second half turned the game into a rout.
“The Timberwolves came out hustling and were in a fury for the first half,” Clear Lake head coach Tony Farrington said. “They out-rebounded us inside the paint and they were hitting their shots while the orange iron seemingly had a lid on it for us.”
Added Farrington, “For the second half we then made some adjustments and pivoted to a new mindset. We shifted gears into overdrive. Our team got in sync defensively and their efforts and execution helped us pull through to get the win.”
Clear Lake’s varsity visits Cloverdale on Tuesday while the JVs play a non-league game in Willits.
