{"id":1653,"date":"2024-12-12T00:18:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T00:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2024-12-12T00:18:32","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T00:18:32","slug":"mustangs-knights-dominate-openers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=1653","title":{"rendered":"Mustangs, Knights dominate openers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Upper Lake knocks off Fort Bragg, Cardinals, Trojans drop games<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake County Sports on Facebook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CLOVERDALE >> In a gym that seems to sap energy from his team, Middletown High School varsity boys basketball coach Jake Diehl told his players they needed to \u201ccreate their own energy\u201d Tuesday night during the Mustangs\u2019 North Central League I opener at Cloverdale High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting on a dozen 3-pointers, the red-hot-shooting Mustangs built a 15-point lead, gave most of it back, then found the energy they were looking for to overwhelm the Eagles 78-53.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it was a team effort to be sure, according to Diehl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were moving the ball well tonight and we were able to spread it around,\u201d Diehl said of Middletown\u2019s balanced scoring, which featured 25 points from Bodhi Moore, including five 3-pointers, 22 points from Jon Hawkins, including two 3-pointers, 17 points from Anthony Bowerman, including three 3-pointers, and 12 points from Harrison Brown with two 3-pointers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe came here to make a statement and my guys did,\u201d Diehl said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a good group and they\u2019re gelling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowerman (12 rebounds) and Hawkins both finished with double-doubles as Middletown improved to 4-1 overall, that lone loss coming against St. Helena in the championship game of the Sutter Home Invitational on Saturday night in St. Helena where the Mustangs entered play at less than full strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diehl said he feels good about the two league meetings the Mustangs have with St. Helena later this season. The Saints, the Mustangs and the Kelseyville Knights enter the NCL I race as the favorites this year \u2013 Kelseyville and St. Helena are defending league co-champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moore also had four assists and Hawkins three blocks in the win over Cloverdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown appeared as though it might run away from the Eagles early. The Mustangs opened up a 30-15 lead in the second quarter, but the Eagles rallied back to within 31-27, as close as they would get the remainder of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown almost immediately found its second wind. Moore sank two free throws with 44.3 seconds remaining to make it 33-27 and his 3-pointer at the buzzer, his fourth of the quarter, increased the Mustangs\u2019 advantage to 36-27 at halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third quarter was pretty much all Middletown as the Mustangs outscored the Eagles 24-13, 10 of those points coming from Hawkins, including a 3-pointer and a three-point play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown didn\u2019t let off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter, opening up as much as a 28-point lead, Hawkins sinking a 3-pointer and converting another three-point play. Bowerman scored nine points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown also dominated the junior varsity game, 69-48, behind a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds from Nalu Johnson, 16 points from Cody Perez, 12 points and 13 rebounds from Valentin Jimenez, and 12 points from Kolton Costlow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mustangs found the range on nine 3-pointers, four by Perez, three by Johnson, and two by Perez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown went to halftime leading 36-18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other boys basketball action Tuesday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville 76, Lower Lake 22<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Kelseyville, a veteran Kelseyville squad \u2013 all seniors but one \u2013 met a young Lower Lake club and the veteran Knights dominated from the get-go in beating the Trojans, led by first-year coach and former Clear Lake High School star Anthony Farrington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just wanted to come out and prove we\u2019re ready for league play,\u201d Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said as the Knights begin defense of the league title they won last season (sharing it with St. Helena).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, the Knights are ready. They bolted out of the gate and outscored Lower Lake 24-3 in the first quarter and 43-14 in the first half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWelome to the NCL I,\u201d Lopez said when asked about playing a green Lower Lake squad but one that he said will only be getting better and better in the next couple of years. \u201cLower Lake played disciplined basketball. I think he (Farrington) is doing a good job turning around the program. I like the direction they\u2019re heading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Knights (1-0, 2-2) received contributions from throughout their lineup, starters and reserves alike. Brock Barrick led the way with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, Gene Holdenried added 14 points and two 3-pointers, and Ryder Leary finished with 13 points and three 3-pointers. Kyle Watkins added seven points while Tyler Bryant, Max Hommer and Adam Astrup all had six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got seven or eight guys who are capable of scoring in double digits on a given night,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holdenried\u2019s strong play early helped Kelseyville run away with the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGene came out firing,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cHe had 12 of 14 in the first quarter. He came out ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brody Shields scored six points to lead the Trojans (0-1, 1-4) while Ivan DeLeon and Jonathan Venture each had four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKelseyville ran hard and hustled tonight,\u201d Farrington said. \u201cOur team had another off night, and we are still trying to adjust to team play instead of one-on-one action and working on ball movement. We got stuck in a rut and we did not effectively run the offense and set good screens, which resulted in many forced shots and low-percentage shots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Farrington, \u201cMore importantly, we struggled to play with the same intensity that Kelseyville brought to tonight\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville also won the JV game, 77-24. Joey Watson led the Knights (1-0, 2-3) with 16 points, Gordon Astrup finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, Nick Arredondo had 11 points, and Jacob Amendola contributed nine points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Knights return to action next Tuesday in Middletown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake 69, Fort Bragg 51<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Upper Lake, Landen Robinson\u2019s 15 points and 12 more from Jonathan Barnes powered the Upper Lake Cougars in a league-opening win over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe played great defense from the start, going on a 14-0 run to begin the game,\u201d Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. \u201cOur bigs dominated down low on defense with a bunch of blocks. Landen led our defense with over 10 steals and applying pressure out the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake lost the JV game 50-28. TJ Malicay\u2019s nine points led the Cougars (0-1, 3-3) and Shaun Way had seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to play all four quarters,\u201d Upper Lake head coach Duke Faleagalulu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake travels to the Maxwell Tournament on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Helena 61, Clear Lake 43<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At St. Helena, Zane McAuley\u2019s 15 points and 10 more from Jesse Hayes weren\u2019t enough for the Cardinals to derail defending NCL I co-champion St. Helena in the league opener for both schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Saints got an early lead and we made a few runs at them,\u201d Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. \u201cThey answered every one of the runs. In the fourth quarter they blew the game wide open. St. Helena has a good squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake (0-1, 1-3) opens play in the Calistoga Tournament on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In JV action, St. Helena won a shootout with Clear Lake, which received 29 points from Ayden Moreno, 19 from Noah Clever and 18 from Joey Portlock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a fast-paced game from the start,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “Back and forth we went, which is the type of game I like for our team. We missed way too many layups to start the game, which put us behind. We’re still trying to find our footing with our defense, we just haven’t been consistent enough on defense for us to win.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake is 1-3 overall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upper Lake knocks off Fort Bragg, Cardinals, Trojans drop games Lake County Sports on Facebook CLOVERDALE >> In a gym that seems to sap energy from his team, Middletown High School varsity boys basketball coach Jake Diehl told his players they needed to \u201ccreate their own energy\u201d Tuesday night during the Mustangs\u2019 North Central League […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16,20,58,12,17,18,19,59,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1655,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions\/1655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}