Sonoma Academy ends Middletown’s season with 49-43 win in Division 5 playoffs
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SANTA ROSA >> One bad quarter in the playoffs is all that takes sometimes to end your season, and the Middletown Mustangs learned that lesson the hard way Friday night, falling 49-43 to No. 1 seed Sonoma Academy in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division 5 boys basketball playoffs in Santa Rosa.
Middletown (19-9) led after each of the first three quarters and had as much as an eight-point lead early in the final period before a Sonoma Academy team held to 28 points through the first three quarters erupted for 21 in the final eight minutes.
“We turned the ball over too many times,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said of 21 turnovers. “I think that’s the most we’ve had all season.”
While Sonoma Academy pressed Middletown throughout the game, Middletown did a pretty good job handling that pressure until the final six minutes of the game, according to Diehl.
“Our defense was good, we had hands right in their faces on shots, but they hit some big shots at the end,” Diehl said of the Coyotes (22-5), who host No. 4 seed Drew of San Francisco in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Of all of Middletown’s struggles down the stretch against Sonoma Academy, Diehl said turnovers and a poor job on the defensive boards finally caught up with the Mustangs as the Coyotes pushed ahead to stay with a little more than two minutes left in the game.
“We gave up too many second, third and fourth opportunities,” Diehl said. “We weren’t rebounding well at all.”
Middletown’s 10 total assists and four steals also were among team lows for the season, according to Diehl, who said Sonoma Academy, a 54-51 loser in non-league action on Jan. 10 at Middletown, simply wanted the game more than the Mustangs, and for a variety of reasons.
“I think we showed our youngness tonight,” Diehl said.
Middletown starts underclassmen outside of senior Jon Hawkins, who took a hard blow to his eye during the game, a play on which no foul was called, and had to retire to the bench for a few minutes to recover. He finished with 10 points in his final high school game, giving him 1,039 for his career.
Junior guard Harrison Brown led the Mustangs with 16 points. After Hawkins, that scoring fell off to just six points for sophomore center Emmitt Lloyd and six for sophomore guard Willy Tadder.
“And you’ve got to score more than 43 points to win a playoff game,” Diehl said. “The whole game felt like we were a little off.”
Middletown led 15-8 after one quarter, 22-20 at halftime and 33-28 through three quarters.
Added Diehl, “Everything should be clicking for you going into the playoffs. You should be ready. In some ways tonight it felt like our first game with some of the mistakes we were making.”
That certainly wasn’t the case last season when Middletown posted a school-record 24-8 finish, placed third in the section and reached the NorCal playoffs for the first time in school history.
On a brighter note, Middletown returns the bulk of its roster next season when it will be trying for a third straight North Central League I championship and postseason appearance. Diehl also inherits a championship junior varsity squad as the Mustangs look to replace some key pieces as a result of graduation, most notably Hawkins.
“I’m going to miss him,” Diehl said. “He’s a stud for sure.”
