Middletown, Kelseyville, Lower Lake notch victories in North Central League I action
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UPPER LAKE >> Clinching no worse than a share of the North Central League I title for a third year running, the Middletown Mustangs beat the Upper Lake Cougars 45-30 in varsity girls basketball action Tuesday night in Upper Lake.
It was senior night for the Cougars (6-7 league, 16-9 overall), who honored Aimee Schaefers, Sofia Cruz and Camila Martin.
Middletown (11-2, 17-7) wasted no time taking charge, scoring the game’s first 10 points. The Mustangs’ defense clamped down hard on the Cougars, limiting them to four points in the first quarter and four points in the third quarter while Middletown built a 34-20 lead.
“Jordyn had a big game tonight,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said of Jordyn Harbison, who finished with team bests in points (17) and rebounds (nine) while also collecting four steals.
Izzi Hoogendoorn added 11 points, seven rebounds and six steals as Middletown bounced back from a 46-26 road loss to St. Helena.
“Everyone got court time this evening,” Holt said.
Middletown leads St. Helena (10-3) and Kelseyville (10-3) by one game in the league standings going into its league and regular-season finale Thursday at home against Clear Lake. Beating the Cardinals, who Middletown lost to 50-40 Jan. 20 in Lakeport, would give the Mustangs the outright league championship.
Rylee Zimmerschied led the Cougars with nine points while Schaefers added seven points and a team-best 15 rebounds. Cruz added seven points and four rebounds. Zimmerschied, Schaefers and Cruz each had three steals.
“Another tough loss for us,” Upper Lake head coach Raelene Cromwell said. “We were down by eight at halftime, and we still couldn’t pull it together.”
Added Cromwell, “The girls fought and didn’t give up.”
Upper Lake finishes up league play on the road Thursday in St. Helena.
In the junior varsity game, Middletown defeated Upper Lake 57-24 to clinch no worse than a tie for the league title. The Mustangs (11-0, 19-3) can secure the undisputed championship with a win at home Thursday against Clear Lake. If they lose, they will share the title with Clear Lake.
Jaquelin Nunez led a balanced Middletown attack with 14 points, Jolene Holley added 12, Nevaeh Wienke seven and Ally Cherry, Emma Jones and Chloe Pulido six apiece.
“Jaqui Nunez and Jolene Holley were phenomenal for us tonight, both of them recording double-doubles,” Middletown head coach Daryl Dacosta said. “The girls worked really well together. Our reserves stepped up big time tonight. It was a great team win.”
Destiny Jarvis scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers, or the Cougars (2-9, 4-13). Kenzie Foley and Annica Warren added six points apiece. It was the season finale for Upper Lake as they will receive a forfeit win Thursday against St. Helena because the Saints no longer field a JV team.
Kelseyville 56, Cloverdale 24
At Kelseyville, in a game that was never in doubt, the Kelseyville Knights (10-3, 18-5) overpowered the Cloverdale Eagles (0-13, 5-18).
Kelseyville remains tied with St. Helena (10-3) for second place, one game behind Middletown (11-2). If Middletown is upset at home by Clear Lake on Thursday, both Kelseyville and St. Helena could collect a share of the title with wins in their final regular-season games – Kelseyville at home against Fort Bragg, and St. Helena at home against Upper Lake.
“We played tough team defense, ran the fastbreak really well and moved the ball around on offense,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “Because Cloverdale doesn’t have a JV team, we brought up three freshmen (Brooke Poff, Carly Gleason and Paelynn Beall) who ended up getting some minutes late handled it very well. Our starting five pretty much sat most of the fourth quarter. AJ (Wurm) and Mati (Mateer) did not play in the fourth quarter.”
Wurm still led the Knights with 21 points, six assists and five steals while sophomore Aubree Sperber added 14 points and Liz Erlandson six points. Mateer contributed four points, nine rebounds and four steals, Kylee Denham had four points, seven rebounds and four blocks, Arane Gonzalez had four points and five rebounds, and Poff hit a 3-pointer for her first varsity points.
There was no JV game.
Lower Lake 49, Clear Lake 37
At Lower Lake, outscoring Clear Lake in every quarter, the Lower Lake Trojans secured a winning season in league play with a victory over the Cardinals.
Lower Lake improved to 8-5 in the NCL I standings with one game remaining, that in Cloverdale on Thursday, which will be the final regular-season game for longtime head coach Shannon Tubbs, who is stepping down at season’s end.
“The girls played a complete game tonight,” Tubbs said. “They came out strong and played great as a group the whole way through. The adjustments made worked well and they took care of the ball down the stretch. It was nice getting that last win at home with the seniors.”
Since it was Lower Lake’s final league home game, the team honored seniors Jamiya Lee-Ayers, Brooke Watson, Olivia Guralas and Mary Watson.
Amelie Davis, a freshman, led the Cardinals (5-8, 10-15) with 13 points while also adding eight rebounds and three assists. Faith McIntire, Jazmin Wiebusch and Ashlynn Cruz chipped in with six points apiece. Haylie Garcia pulled down 10 rebounds and had three steals.
Clear Lake won the JV game 40-33 behind 12 points from Camara Wittman and 11 from Cali Albaum. The win keeps the Cardinals (10-1, 18-4) one game behind the Middletown Mustangs in the league standings, the team Clear Lake plays Thursday in Middletown to close out its season.
“This was a wild one; we were down 13-2 for the first period,” Clear Lake head coach Tony Farrington said.
Clear Lake used an 11-3 second quarter to close to 16-13 by halftime.
“Truth be told, I was concerned about our focus heading into the game and unsure we could adjust after the first period,” Farrington said. “However, the team came together and exceeded expectations.”
Darleen Benefield’s 14 points powered the Trojans, who close out their season at 8-4 in league play and 15-7 overall. Eden Sparks and Urijah Rogers each had six points.
“We had it in the first quarter and then stopped playing clean,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Lackowski said. “Small mistakes turned into huge turnovers. Not the way we wanted to close out league.”
“This win secured second place in league and keeps us in position to tie Middletown for first,” Farrington said. “More importantly, regardless of Thursday’s result against Middletown, the resilience, growth and improvement I saw tonight matter most to me as a coach.”
Macie Snyder scored six points for the Cardinals and Hailey Perez had five.
