Knights honor seniors, rout Fort Bragg; Tubbs goes out a winner for Trojans
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MIDDLETOWN >> Middletown High School’s varsity and junior varsity girls basketball teams added to the school’s title haul Thursday night by beating the Clear Lake Cardinals in the North Central League I finales for both schools.
Middletown won the varsity game 44-28 behind a big night from Jordyn Harbison (19 points, six rebounds, five steals), clinching the outright league championship with a 12-2 record, while the JV Mustangs beat Clear Lake 56-31, denying the Cardinals a share of the league title and capping a perfect 12-0 league run and 20-win season (20-3).
Varsity
“Great win tonight to clinch first place,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said as the Mustangs collected a third straight NCL I championship. “We went all year without losing on our homecourt and we weren’t about to have our first be tonight.”
Both teams struggled on offense in the first half, especially the Cardinals (5-9, 10-16), who didn’t score a basket until freshman Amelie Davis finally found the range with 1:28 left in the second quarter, cutting Middletown’s lead to 18-7. While players on both teams were ice cold from the field, the exception was Harbison, who scored eight of her team’s first 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Mustangs established an early 10-1 lead. Harbison had 12 points by halftime, including a driving layup set up by an Izzi Hoogendoorn assist in the final seconds of the first half as Middletown went up 22-9.
“The girls came out hot on defense, only allowing nine points in the entire first half,” Holt said. “We obviously allowed more in the second half but were still able to keep a good lead. We struggled a bit at time on offense but managed to pull through.”
Hoogendoorn finished with nine points, 11 rebounds, five steals and four assists while teammate Harley Holley added nine points and eight rebounds.
“I am very proud of our team,” Holt said. “It has been a great season and now we wait for Sunday to see where we end up in the playoffs.”
Clear Lake never got its offense untracked against Middletown and didn’t have a player com close to double digits. Davis led the team with seven points, Karsyn Greer added six, all on 3-pointers, and senior Faith McIntire had five, giving her a final tally of 1,014 points for her high school career. McIntire also pulled down 11 rebounds while another senior, Kam Cresto, had 10 rebounds to go along with two points.
Middletown takes an 18-7 overall record into the postseason.
Junior varsity
Unlike the first league meeting between the two teams earlier this season in Lakeport, a 39-37 Middletown win, this time around the Mustangs built a big lead and never looked backed while rolling to a huge win over the Cardinals. Head coach Daryl Dacosta watched his Mustangs win their 12th straight to close out the year – they were 12-0 in 2006, their last loss, a non-league game, coming Dec. 30 against Ukiah.
“This season has been one for the books,” Dacosta said. “When you start a season, your goal is always to compete for a championship. You can game plan, coach and prepare as much as possible, but at the end of the day it comes down to the team executing the game plan, and that’s what these ladies did day in and day out for the last four months. Their hard work and dedication to this vision we set at the beginning of the year was on full display tonight.”
Middletown dominated the first and third quarters while rolling into the final period with a 46-25 lead.
“We had a great win against a very good and very well-coached team,” Dacosta said of the Cardinals (10-2, 18-5).
Emma Davis just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds while Emma Jones added 14 points and five rebounds.
“Emma Jones had a phenomenal game, stepping up big for us and starting in place of the injured Grace Williams,” Dacosta said. “Tonight was a testament to her hard work and determination to grow as a basketball player. Emma Davis showed up like always and set the tone down low. She is going to be a force for the next three years.”
Added Dacosta, “I could go on and on about all the ladies, but at the end of the day this is a team sport, and it took the whole team to accomplish what we did this season.”
“We struggled to match the intensity of play made by the Mustangs in this final game,” Clear Lake head coach Tony Farrington said. “At the end of the first half we were only down by seven points, but for the second half we continued to struggle to play with the same intensity and run the court with the Mustangs. To make things more difficult for us, in the second half the Mustangs came out hot, making almost every shot taken.”
Davis, a freshman, led the Cardinals with 14 points before going on to play the entire varsity game as well. Camara Wittman added six points and Hailey Perez added five points.
“I know our team was frustrated, but they have nothing to be ashamed of,” Farrington said of just missing out on a share of the league title. “I am proud of how they stay committed to this team and how much they improved since November. If each of them stick with this game, they have the opportunity to make some significant contributions to the Cardinal program next season.”
In other NCL I girls action Thursday:
Kelseyville 64, Fort Bragg 18
At Kelseyville, Kelseyville honored seniors Mati Mateer, AJ Wurm and Liz Erlandson in its final regular-season home game before dispatching the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in the league finale for both teams.
Kelseyville (11-3, 19-5) ends up tied with St. Helena for second place in the final NCL I standings, just one game behind league champion Middletown. The Knights will await Sunday’s at-large and seeding meeting to find out who, when and where they play next week in first-round action.
“We had a great senior night tonight,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “After we honored all of the seniors from Fort Bragg and our own AJ Wurm, Mati Mateer and Liz Erlandson with family and friends, the game got under way. We played a little tight the first few minutes. After a timeout about four minutes into the first quarter and an adjustment, we really took off.”
Kelseyville led 15-8 after one quarter, then outscored Fort Bragg (2-12, 4-21) by a 25-0 margin in the second quarter to go up 40-8.
“We talked at halftime about keeping the intensity up, but at the same time playing the right way and not trying to blow them out,” Conrad said. “The girls did a great job of keeping their composure, running the offense and playing quality defense.”
Wurm and Mateer sat out the entire fourth quarter. Wurm still finished with 23 points, including 7-for-10 from the free-throw line, six assists, six rebounds and eight steals. Mateer added 14 points (6-for-9 from the line), nine rebounds, eight steals and three assists.
Also for the Knights, Grace Hobbs and Aubree Sperber added eight points apiece, and Erlandson had six points, four rebounds and four steals.
Kelseyville’s JV team also finished strong, beating Fort Bragg 50-14 behind 14 points, five rebounds and three steals from Carly Gleason, 10 points, three rebounds and three assists from Brooke Poff, eight points and four rebounds from Rilee Sperber, and seven points and five rebounds from Ximena Herren.
“Great way to end the season,” Kelseyville head coach Liz Berry said. “Gabby Keyes anticipated the game well and played really tough defense for us. The team improved so much this year and really learned to play as a team and how much success that can bring.”
Kelseyville finishes the season 6-6 in league and 10-9 overall.
Lower Lake 55, Cloverdale 36
At Cloverdale, longtime Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs won his final game for the Trojans, who finish 9-5 in league and 12-11 overall.
While Lower Lake’s records, both league and overall, make the team playoff eligible, Tubbs said it is a team decision not to apply for an at-large berth.
“I think the stress this team played with throughout the season just took a toll, but they played with heart for me every night,” Tubbs said.
Irianna Milano scored 12 points, Leanna Ortega added 11, including three 3-pointers, Lily Milano finished with 10 and Jamiya Lee-Ayers had seven points and 14 rebounds as the Trojans used a big second half – 37-17 – to keep Cloverdale (0-14, 5-18) winless in league play.
“We started off slow but ended the game playing our best half of the season,” Tubbs said. “The defense worked hard and the girls moved the ball on offense. It was a nice way to end my coaching career. I would like to thank my players, past and present, for all the memories. It’s been a hell of a ride.”
Added Tubbs, “Finally, to all my fellow coaches, thanks for being part of the journey.”
There was no JV game as Cloverdale doesn’t field a JV team.
St. Helena 60, Upper Lake 44
At St. Helena, the St. Helena Saints (11-3, 17-6) beat the Upper Lake Cougars (6-8, 16-10) to finish tied with Kelseyville for second place in the league standings.
Both St. Helena and Upper Lake should advance to next week’s North Coast Section playoffs as at-large teams. The playoff fields in all divisions will be released Sunday.
Rylee Zimmerschied’s 17 points, including three 3-pointers, led the Cougars. Alyssa John added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds while Aimee Schaefers had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Upper Lake won the JV game by forfeit to finish the season 3-9 in league play and 5-13 overall.
