{"id":4888,"date":"2025-12-03T20:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T20:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=4888"},"modified":"2025-12-03T20:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T20:05:00","slug":"stangs-cougars-fall-cards-win-on-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=4888","title":{"rendered":"‘Stangs, Cougars fall, Cards win on road"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sprague scores 34 for Kelseyville JVs in win over Alhambra<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

MIDDLETOWN >> The Maria Carrillo Pumas couldn\u2019t miss from 3-point range in the first quarter, rolling up 30 points and going on to beat the Middletown Mustangs 80-45 in non-league varsity boys basketball action Tuesday night in Middletown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were draining those 3s,\u201d Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said of the seven 3-pointers the Puma made in the opening quarter. \u201cAnd we were out there on them. We had a hand in their face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the season opener for the Mustangs (0-1), who won\u2019t be at full strength until Middletown\u2019s postseason run in football is complete. Maria Carrillo improved to 1-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pumas took a 45-28 lead into halftime. They finished with 10 3-pointers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir coach told me that\u2019s the best they\u2019ve shot this season,\u201d Diehl said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nalu Johnson led the Mustangs with 14 points while Willie Tadder added eight and Harrison Brown and Cody Perez seven apiece. Perez and Leland Pike had Middletown\u2019s only 3-pointers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were some bright spots,\u201d Diehl said. \u201cThey showed a definite level of toughness by going right after them (Pumas). That\u2019s a Division 2 squad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown returns to action Thursday against Calistoga in the first round of the Sutter Classic at St. Helena High School. The tournament runs through Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the junior varsity game, Maria Carrillo beat Middletown 49-45 despite a big night from Jovial Najd, who finished with 24 points and seven rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe made a couple of bad turnovers near the end that hurt,\u201d Middletown head coach Mike Myers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Middletown held an early lead, Maria Carrillo\u2019s press led to a 14-0 run that put the Pumas in front. The Mustangs rallied to go back in front in the second half, but they couldn\u2019t hold the lead down the stretch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing a school the size of Maria Carrillo was a big step up for the Mustangs, according to Myers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of my boys,\u201d Myers said. \u201cThey (Puma) had some big boys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucas Hernandez scored nine points for Middletown while Koa Johnson added six points and 10 rebounds. Colton Costlow had four points, six rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Clear Lake 52, South Fork 37<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Miranda, Zane McAuley scored 15 points, Ayden Moreno added 12 and AJ Bruch 11 as the Clear Lake Cardinals squared their season record at 1-1 with a non-league road victory over the South Fork Cubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a good bounceback game against a good team,\u201d Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. \u201cWe were up only eight at the end of the third quarter, but we turned up our defense, really locking it down in the fourth quarter by only giving up five points.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Cerezo, \u201cEveryone contributed in the win in some way. AJ stepped up and guarded their best player throughout the game and did a great job defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake won the JV game 57-28 to improve to 3-2 on the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scoring leaders were not provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willits 58, Upper Lake 42<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Willits, the Upper Lake Cougars dropped their season opener to the Willits Wolverines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe struggled to find the bottom of the net and struggled even more to even attempt to shoot it,” Upper Lake assistant coach Thomas Santana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTyler (Collins, a first-year basketball player) had really good attempts from inside and he did exactly  what we asked of him to clean up the boards and give us an inside option,\u201d Santana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landen Robinson led the Cougars (0-1) with nine points while Collins, TJ Malicay and Wyatt Hallman added six points apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willits pulled away with a 23-11 third quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAntario Wyman was a good spark off the bench for us with five points of his own,\u201d Santana said. \u201cEarly foul trouble really put us in a hard spot. We\u2019ve got to learn to clean that up a bit, but we\u2019ll continue to grow as the year goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willits also won the JV game, 62-54, in a hard-fought battle, according to Upper Lake head coach Wyatt Hensley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite the final score, the team showed impressive composure and resilience throughout a game marked by physical play and challenging momentum swings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freshman Isaia Pena finished with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists in his first high school game while sophomore Emmanuel Tapia added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe attacked the rim with confidence and these two kept the team within striking distance down the stretch,\u201d Hensley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake opens plays in the Lower Lake JV Tournament on Friday. The tournament runs through Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking to build on the strong moments from the opener and convert them into a complete game,\u201d Hensley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville 49, Alhambra 42 (JV)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Martinez, freshman forward Darin Sprague scored 34 points as the Kelseyville JV boys team evened its season record at 1-1 with a win over Alhambra High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd he had a bunch of inside shots that bobbled in and out or he would have had 40,\u201d Kelseyville head coach Stan Weiper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sprague has 62 points in Kelseyville\u2019s first two games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Knights used a 19-6 third quarter to open up a 39-27 lead. Weiper went to his bench before the game tightened up in the fourth quarter, at which point he re-inserted the starters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a bunch of freshmen (11 out of 13 players),\u201d Weiper said. \u201cIt was nice to be able to play the reserves two or three minutes, but when they cut it to six, I put the starters back in there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting the Knights to play as a team is beginning to show some progress, according to Weiper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe showed signs of running plays and getting good shots,\u201d Weiper said. \u201cI think we have a chance to be competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Salmina scored five points for the Knights and Fabian Flores had four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville plays Justin-Siena on Friday in Napa at 6 p.m. There is no varsity game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Results of Tuesday\u2019s varsity game between Kelseyville and Alhambra were not reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sprague scores 34 for Kelseyville JVs in win over Alhambra Lake County Sports on Facebook MIDDLETOWN >> The Maria Carrillo Pumas couldn\u2019t miss from 3-point range in the first quarter, rolling up 30 points and going on to beat the Middletown Mustangs 80-45 in non-league varsity boys basketball action Tuesday night in Middletown. \u201cThey were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16,12,17,19,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4888"}],"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=4888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4889,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4888\/revisions\/4889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}