Mustangs await Sunday’s at-large, seeding meeting to see where they’ll be in playoffs
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MIDDLETOWN >> Middletown had nothing to gain as far as the North Central League I race was concerned Thursday night against Clear Lake in the league and regular-season finale for both teams at Middletown, but it was still a game and the Mustangs don’t like to lose no matter the stakes.
Having wrapped up the league title earlier in the week with a home win over Upper Lake, the Mustangs could have kicked back Thursday and rested up for the start of next week’s North Coast Section playoffs, but taking it easy isn’t in his players’ genes, or for that matter his own, according to head coach Jake Diehl.
“No,” Diehl said when asked if the Mustangs, 68-57 winners over the Cardinals, toyed with the idea of throttling back against Clear Lake.
Though Clear Lake (7-7, 12-14) made Middletown (11-3, 18-8) work for its win, Diehl said he was pleased with the Mustangs’ effort in a game that might have been on the surface meaningless for his squad.
“Absolutely pleased,” Diehl said. “My guys were solid. They’re team players. We’ve worked hard for this. We’ve put in the time and I’m proud of where we’re at.”
Depending on what division the Mustangs are placed in during Sunday’s North Coast Section at-large and seeding meeting, they could be primed for another lengthy playoff run. Last season they hosted five straight playoff games, going 3-2, placing third in Division 4 and advancing to the NorCal playoffs for the first time in school history, part of a historic 24-8 campaign for the 2024-25 squad.
“I’m hoping we get to be home for one or maybe two games,” Diehl said with an eye toward the section playoffs.
Clear Lake, on the other hand, is done for the season despite battling hard all year long for first-year head coach Shady Cerezo, who said the team would have applied for a playoff at-large berth had they won. Though the Cardinals are still technically eligible because of their 7-7 league finish, Cerezo said the consensus among his players, most of whom are baseball players, is that they would like to move on to their spring sport.
“I don’t know what would be the point of getting a low seed and having to travel to play some big school (in the first round),” Cerezo said.
While Clear Lake beat Middletown in the first league meeting between the two teams last month in Lakeport, the difference this time around was Middletown 6-foot-9 sophomore center Emmitt Lloyd, who the Cardinals couldn’t slow down let alone stop.
“We just didn’t have an answer for him,” Cerezo said. “We tried everything we could, but you can’t coach tall. He’s a big kid with long arms. All he has to do is reach out to score.”
Lloyd almost had half of Middletown’s points, scoring a season- and career-best 33. The Mustangs spent nearly the entire first half lobbing passes inside to him and Lloyd responded by making most of his shots. He scored all 13 of Middletown’s points during an 18-13 first quarter that favored Clear Lake. Lloyd also scored the Mustangs’ first two points of the second quarter. It wasn’t until teammate Harrison Brown hit a 3-pointer with six minutes left in the first half, tying the score at 18-all, that a Middletown player other than Lloyd reached the scoring column.
Lloyd’s tip-in of his own miss with about a minute left in the first half put Middletown ahead to stay at 28-26. The Mustangs carried a 31-27 lead into the second half.
Whereas the Mustangs were almost solely dependent on Lloyd for offense in the first half, the Cardinals got a big boost from Zane McAuley, who hit four 3-pointers in the opening quarter before cooling off and finishing the night with 15 points, all on treys.
Middletown was much more successful at involving others in the offense in the second half although Lloyd continued to be a force throughout the game.
“I reminded them of who we are and what we’re about (at halftime),” Diehl said. “We did a good job of moving the ball around and our defense adjusted to some things. We did a good job.”
Middletown had as much as a 44-31 lead midway through the third quarter when Clear Lake closed with an 11-4 run to make it 48-42.
Middletown’s lead fluctuated between four and six points the first half of the fourth quarter. Clear Lake had just cut the Mustangs’ lead to 52-48 with 5:14 remaining when the Cardinals’ bench was whistled for a technical foul.
There was just one problem, according to Cerezo.
“It wasn’t anyone on our bench,” he said.
A fan, the alleged perpetrator of the comments that drew the official’s ire, was ejected from the gym. Although Brown missed both of the technical free throws, the Mustangs were awarded possession of the ball and promptly scored, Jon Hawkins powering his way inside and drawing a foul. He added the free throw to complete the three-point play, giving Middletown a 55-48 lead.
“That kind of screwed us at the end,” Cerezo said. “We had momentum. The technical was on a fan unless our bench extends into the stands. It doesn’t.”
Clear Lake closed to four points one last time as McAuley’s fifth and final 3-pointer of the night made it 55-51, but it was the Cardinals’ last gasp. Lloyd scored down low and Willy Tadder made a long two-point shot to give the Mustangs a 59-51 lead. Middletown made five of seven free throws down the stretch to seal it, which help offset a pair of Clear Lake 3-pointers in the final 3:21.
Sawyer Smith did his best to keep Clear Lake close in the second half, hitting a handful of clutch 3-pointers. He finished with a team-best 16 points, including four 3-pointers. AJ Bruch added another 13 points to Clear Lake’s cause while Jesse Hayes had eight.
Lloyd was the only Mustangs to score in double digits although Hawkins and Brown just missed with nine points apiece. Tadder finished with seven and Jasiah Pike had six.
Junior varsity
In a winner-take-all junior varsity game, the Mustangs secured the outright league championship 56-38 to finish 11-3 in the standings. Clear Lake, Kelseyville and St. Helena all ended up a game back at 10-4.
Jovial Najd led the Mustangs, 15-5 overall, with 15 points, John Finney contributed 11, Koa Johnson had 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Cody de Jong added eight points and four rebounds. Najd also had three assists.
Middletown lost its first two league games before going 11-1 in its next 12 games.
“I’m really proud of these boys,” Middletown head coach Mike Myers said.
“We didn’t give them many second-chance opportunities,” Myers added. “We became a defensive team as the season went on and defense wins championships.”
In other NCL I action Thursday:
Fort Bragg 57, Kelseyville 50
At Fort Bragg, in a battle for sole possession of second place in the league standings and an automatic berth into next week’s North Coast Section playoffs, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves held off the Kelseyville Knights.
“We had a couple of opportunities at the end of the game,” Kelseyville head coach Chaze Russell said. “They played us hard and we tried to answer back.”
Fort Bragg’s ability to rebound the ball down the stretch helped keep the Timberwolves in front, according to Russell.
“We could not get a rebound,” Russell said.
Individual statistics were not available Thursday night, but Russell said the play of Joey Watson, who missed most of the season with an injury, helped keep Kelseyville in the game.
“Joey Watson has stepped up and done a great job the last three games,” Russell said.
Kelseyville will apply for an at-large berth and find out Sunday if it is moving on to the playoffs.
In the JV game, Kelseyville closed out its season with a 61-31 victory. The Knights went 10-4 in league play and 13-8 overall, just missing out on a share of the league title.
“At least we were able to finish strong,” Kelseyville head coach Stan Weiper said. “We played good defense and got out on the break well.”
Darin Sprague led the Knights with 19 points, Chris Salmina had 13 and Fabian Flores 11.
Lower Lake 62, Cloverdale 53
At Cloverdale, the Lower Lake Trojans moved up a spot in the league standings after beating the Cloverdale Eagles in the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
Noah Hakala finished with 18 points and 20 rebounds as the Trojans closed out league play at 6-8 and 12-14 overall. Brody Shields added 16 points, Zackquez Sanders had nine and Kaimelo Connolly seven.
“We ended up pulling away in the third and finishing with a strong rebounding and running game,” Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said.
Cloverdale won the JV game 75-32.
“A very tough last game for us,” Lower Lake head coach Latoya Fortino said. “We had shots but couldn’t get them to land. Cloverdale hit almost everything they put up. It truly was incredible. They couldn’t seem to miss.”
Aiden Osorio’s eight points led the Trojans (3-11, 9-16) while Roy Percoats and Adrian Guzman each had five.
St. Helena 64, Upper Lake 50
At St. Helena, 19 points from Tj Malicay and 12 apiece from Shaun Way and Wyatt Hallman, who had four 3-pointers, weren’t enough to lift the Upper Lake Cougars (3-11, 8-16) past the St. Helena Saints (7-7, 11-12).
Upper Lake pulled to within a basket of St. Helena on a handful of occasions only to fall back each time.
“They were just too big,” Upper Lake assistant coach Thomas Santana said of the Saints. “We played hard, we just couldn’t stop their runs.”
Added Santana of Upper Lake’s season, which included many close losses, “If half of those games went our way our record would’ve been so different.”
A young team, Upper Lake returns seven players next season.
“So we’ll be back to compete even harder next year,” Santana said.
St. Helena won the JV game 48-37 to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the league standings. Upper Lake closes 0-14 in league and 0-17 overall.
“We had a young team and it was hard to cross the finish line this season,” Upper Lake head coach Wyatt Hensley said. “I’m looking forward to offseason development and watching them grow as student-athletes.”
