{"id":2139,"date":"2025-01-29T21:21:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T21:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=2139"},"modified":"2025-01-29T21:21:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T21:21:50","slug":"watkins-nears-1000-as-knights-top-stangs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=2139","title":{"rendered":"Watkins nears 1,000 as Knights top ‘Stangs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kelseyville knocks off Middletown 53-44; Cardinals roll past Upper Lake in NCL I action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

KELSEYVILLE >> Kyle Watkins scored a game-best 23 points, pulling to within 18 of 1,000 for his career, and the Kelseyville Knights cleared the first of two big hurdles this week as they used an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter to beat the Middletown Mustangs 53-44 in a North Central League I varsity boys basketball game at Kelseyville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville, Middletown and St. Helena all entered Tuesday\u2019s play tied atop the league standings at 7-1. Kelseyville\u2019s victory combined with St. Helena\u2019s 58-55 win at Cloverdale leaves the Knights and Saints, last year\u2019s co-champions, tied at 8-1, and those two collide Friday in St. Helena with sole possession of first place up for grabs. Middletown (7-2 league, 15-6 overall) falls off a game off the pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted it more down the stretch,\u201d Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said of the Knights breaking open what was a back-and-forth game for the first three quarters (six lead changes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watkins clearly wanted it more than any other player on the court, which wasn\u2019t a surprise to Lopez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Mr. Consistent,\u201d Lopez said of Watkins, who scored the final seven points of the first quarter to give Kelseyville a 15-12 lead, and his eight straight points in the third quarter pushed Kelseyville\u2019s lead to 34-27 \u2013 the biggest lead enjoyed by either team to that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what you expect from a four-year varsity guy,\u201d Lopez said of Watkins, who was called up to the varsity midway through his freshman season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown was hoping for a season sweep of the Knights (8-1, 13-8), who the Mustangs beat 61-50 in Middletown during their first league meeting back on Dec. 17 in Middletown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said he was hoping for the same kind of outcome in the rematch, but the Mustangs struggled from 3-point range all night despite outscoring Kelseyville 12-6 at the free-throw line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t my team out there tonight,\u201d Diehl said. \u201cWe\u2019ve shot the worst we\u2019ve shot all season, and we got outrebounded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of 18 points from Jon Hawkins, the Mustangs struggled to get consistent scoring from their other starters. Compounding that was the play of the two benches \u2013 Kelseyville outscored Middletown 13-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d Diehl said of the advantage a deep bench gives the Knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of our bench, it comes up big,\u201d Lopez said of such players as Adam Astrup, who had two big baskets in the third quarter, Ryder Leary, who scored four of his six points in the fourth quarter, and Tyler Bryant and Max Hommer. \u201cThey all gave me some valuable minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday\u2019s game also marked one of the few times this season the Knights have won a game despite having only one player (Watkins) score in double figures. Much like the Mustangs and leader Hawkins, Kelseyville\u2019s other starters struggled to put the ball in the hoop, but the play of the Knights\u2019 bench helped offset some of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brock Barrick, the Knights\u2019 3-point specialist, hit the first shot of the game to give Kelseyville a 3-0 lead but didn\u2019t hit another shot from behind the arc until his trey with 2:38 left in the game proved to be the dagger, giving Kelseyville a 50-39 advantage. He finished with eight points, five of those in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Kelseyville led after each of the first three quarters \u2013 15-12, 26-25 and 41-36 \u2013 the game was nowhere near secure until late in the fourth quarter. Leary\u2019s two free throws gave the Knights a 43-36 cushion early in the final period, but Bodhi Moore\u2019s 3-pointer seconds later narrowed the gap to 43-39, as close as the Mustangs would get the rest of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leary\u2019s basket with 4:16 remaining made it 47-39 until Barrick struck from long range with 2:38 left. The Mustangs were never closer than eight the rest of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t come ready to play,\u201d Diehl said in summing up Middletown\u2019s night. \u201cThat\u2019s not what we do. It was kind of a mental breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diehl said the Mustangs will be rooting for St. Helena to beat Kelseyville on Friday because they still have a game left with St. Helena (Feb. 7 in Middletown).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to win out and get some help,\u201d Diehl said with an eye toward the Kelseyville at St. Helena game on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville\u2019s objective, according to Lopez, is to take control of the league race with a victory Friday against the Saints, a team it beat 66-52 on Jan. 7 in Kelseyville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to prove ourselves on the road Friday,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cWe\u2019ve won one big game this week, now we need to win another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lopez had nothing but praise for Middletown\u2019s bid to sweep the season series from the Knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what we expected,\u201d Lopez said of the hard-fought battle. \u201cThey are one of the top teams in the league. I think both teams played hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrison Brown, a sophomore guard, had nine points for Middletown, all 3-pointers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Watkins doesn\u2019t score his 1,000th<\/sup> point Friday at St. Helena, he\u2019ll get his next chance Wednesday, Feb. 5 at home against Upper Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no pressure for him to do it against St. Helena,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cThe only thing we need to worry about in that game is getting the win. He doesn\u2019t have to force the situation because he\u2019s going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville has five league games remaining, not counting playoffs, underscoring Lopez\u2019s point that Watkins\u2019 milestone is all but assured. He\u2019ll be the second player this season to reach 1,000, joining Middletown\u2019s Mia Hoogendoorn, who did it back in late November. Hoogendoorn has 1,398 points and counting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown hits the road Friday night to play Lower Lake (0-9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In junior varsity action Tuesday, an anticipated first-place showdown between Kelseyville and Middletown never materialized as the Knights scored 32 first-quarter points en route to a 83-39 victory that finished with a running clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville (9-0, 13-7) led 51-19 at halftime. Middletown drops to 7-2 in league play and 14-6 overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was really confident going into tonight\u2019s game with how well we have been playing, but Kelseyville owned the NCL I tonight,\u201d Middletown head coach Andy Brown said. \u201cThey have an eye on the prize and aren\u2019t slowing down. They just may have played a flawless game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jair Carrillo led a balanced Kelseyville attack with 19 points, eight assists and five steals. Jacob Amendola added 14 points and six rebounds while Joey Watson also had 14 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leland Pike\u2019s 11 points led the Mustangs while Nalu Johnson finished with seven and John Finney and Kolton Costlow each had six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKelseyville\u2019s extra effort and determination was the intangible we needed tonight,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both teams are on the road Friday as Kelseyville visits St. Helena while Middletown travels to Lower Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake 71, Upper Lake 47<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Lakeport, Zane McAuley\u2019s 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, powered the Clear Lake Cardinals to a big win over the Upper Lake Cougars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake (5-4, 10-10) also received double-digit scoring from Jesse Hayes (12 points) and Kaden Graham (10 points).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNice bounceback win for our team,\u201d Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. \u201cWe came out and got an early lead, then took control in the second quarter. It was not our cleanest game, but the boys played hard. Jesse and Kaden played well down low tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake was missing starter James Beaux Stiritz (out sick) and his absence was certainly felt, according to head coach Tony Arroyo. \u201cWe struggled finding our rhythm early on the offensive side of the ball. With Beaux being out six we need others to find some buckets in his absence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Arroyo, \u201cClear Lake is a good defensive team. They\u2019re strong and cause a lot of hard shots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landen Robinson and Jared Rosales each had 11 points for the Cougars (2-7, 5-10) while Nick Barnes added seven points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLanden played great defense, causing a lot of problems for them early, but eventually they got hot from 3(-point range) and the lead started to pull away from us. Connor Vogel and Delaney Allison both were rebounding great, but the shots weren\u2019t falling. It was a tough loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake did pick up a win in the JV game, 61-51, as Mason Parker came off the bench to score 19 points for the Cougars (3-6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBig win for the guys, proud of them,\u201d Upper Lake head coach Lupeli Faleagafulu said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been beating themselves later about playing a complete game, and they did that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Faleagafulu, \u201cMason Parker coming off the bench was huge for us tonight. He had his best all-around game tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TJ Malicay had 16 points and Shawn Way 11 for the Cougars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayden Moreno\u2019s 24 points led the Cardinals (4-5) while Nolan Buffalo had 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe came out with no energy and Upper Lake outworked us,\u201d Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. \u201cThey wanted it more than we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake travels to Fort Bragg on Friday while Upper Lake returns home to play Cloverdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Bragg 57, Lower Lake 37<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Fort Bragg, trying to build on two encouraging efforts last week against Cloverdale and Kelseyville, the Lower Lake Trojans came up short at Fort Bragg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Timberwolves just flat out outhustled us,\u201d Lower Lake head coach Anthony Farrington said. \u201cAlso, we struggled with out defense, and on offense we were impatient and forced hard shots, and that made all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven Rich led the Trojans (0-9, 2-18) with 13 points, Noah Hakala had 10 and Brody Shields eight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Timberwolves are to be commended on their hustle and good ball movement and taking high-percentage shots instead of forced shots,\u201d Farrington said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Bragg also won the JV game. The final score and individual results were not reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower Lake hosts Middletown on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez celebrates along with players Max Hommer (4) and Ryder Leary during the Knights’ 53-44 win over Middletown on Tuesday in Kelseyville. (Photo courtesy of Lindsey Hamner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kelseyville knocks off Middletown 53-44; Cardinals roll past Upper Lake in NCL I action Lake County Sports on Facebook KELSEYVILLE >> Kyle Watkins scored a game-best 23 points, pulling to within 18 of 1,000 for his career, and the Kelseyville Knights cleared the first of two big hurdles this week as they used an 11-2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16,58,12,17,18,19,59,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139"}],"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=2139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2142,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions\/2142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}