ARBUCKLE — Though he's taken the Middletown High School varsity boys basketball team to the finals of the Pierce Tournament before, head coach G.J. Rockwell has never walked off the court with the championship trophy … until Friday night.

Led by 14 points from tournament MVP Cole Ketchum and 11 points each from Lucas DaCosta and All-Tournament selection Brody Breeden, the Mustangs overcame a tough night shooting the ball to beat Dixon 52-41 in the tournament championship game at Arbuckle.

"I've been in the finals two or three times but never won it," Rockwell said. "It's exciting, especially for the seniors."

Middletown (3-0) trailed 14-3 in the first quarter and Rockwell said the problem was easy to diagnose.

"We could not hit water if we jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge," he said of the team's missed scoring opportunities. "I think we missed 10 layups in the first quarter."

Middletown battled back to trail only 15-11 at the end of the period. While the Mustangs didn't exactly light it up from the field over the final three quarters, they hit enough shots the rest of the way and let their defense take it from there.

"Our defense kicked in after that first quarter and we kind of just grinded it out and made the plays when we needed to make them," Rockwell said.

Middletown had a 23-19 lead by halftime and took a 39-29 lead into the fourth quarter. The Mustangs were still up by 10 with less than three minutes left when Dixon hit back-to-back 3-pointers and got as close as three points.

"We hit a layup to make it five, then we got the ball back and Luke hit a big 3 to kind of put it away," Rockwell said of senior guard Luke Hoogendoorn, who joined Ketchum and Breeden on the All-Tournament team.

"He did all the little things for us that you need to do to win a game like that," Rockwell said of Hoogendoorn. "He played really well."

Hoogendorn finished with seven points as did Zach Dubois.

"I'll tell you what, that's a growing game for those guys," Rockwell said. "They could have given up at a couple of different points, but they didn't. I'm really proud of the way they fought back. They're fighters."

Middletown hosts Lower Lake in the North Central League I opener for both teams Tuesday night.

In other boys tournament action Friday:

Clear Lake 63, Vacaville Christian 34

At Lakeport, pressed into the point guard position because of an injury to Jake Soderquist, Clear Lake senior Ethan Maize seems to be adapting quite well in his first two games for the Cardinals. On Friday, he led the team with 22 points, including four 3-pointers, in a first-round win over Vacaville Christian at the round-robin Larrea Memorial Tournament.

"Ethan was incredible," Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. "He shot lights out tonight."

Clear Lake (2-0) plays two games Saturday as the tournament wraps up — 1:30 p.m. against Fort Bragg and 7:45 p.m. against Lower Lake.

"We had a really good first half, played good defense, mixed it up," Damiata said. "We were focused tonight and playing with a lot of confidence."

Clear Lake led 17-5 after on quarter and 35-17 at halftime. The Cardinals were able to easily overcome a third quarter in which they didn't score until the final two minutes of the period. Even so, Vacaville Christian was only able to shave two points off the Cardinals' lead going to the fourth quarter.

"We didn't turn the ball over and give them easy points," Damiata said.

Clear Lake committed just five turnovers, and only one in the second half.

Drake Smart, a post player. added 10 points while Joey Soderquist, Jack Daskam and Greyson Wind contributed six apiece.

"Daskam was an animal on the boards," he said of the senior's 11 rebounds.

Wind also came off the bench to hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Maize has 41 points through his first two games.

"We're improving each time out," Damiata said. "The guys are excited."

Earlier in junior varsity action, Vacaville Christian beat Clear Lake 52-42. Dayne Wilson led the Cardinals with 15 points and Raul Reyes added 13.

Clear Lake had a 10-point halftime lead before running into foul trouble in the third quarter. Vacaville Christian took control of the game with a run early in the final period.

St. Bernard's 72, Kelseyville 57

At Upper Lake, down by as many as 24 points in the second half, the Kelseyville Knights closed to within eight of St. Bernard's with three minutes left before falling to the Crusaders in a second-round game at the round-robin Cougars Small Schools Classic.

Kelseyville is 0-2 in tournament action and 0-3 on the season. The Knights play Willits, also 0-2 in tourney play, at 3 p.m. Saturday.

"They're a really good team," Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said of the Crusaders, who average better than 6-feet-plus across their starting lineup, including 6-foot-7 junior center Owen Shanahan. "They hurt us on the offensive glass in the first half with a lot of putbacks."

St. Bernard's (3-0) also can shoot the 3-pointer. The Crusaders banged in nine treys but Kelseyville did them one better with an even 10, five by Luke Watkins (22 points) and four more from Jake Keithly (18 points).

"We hung around with them fairly well," Lopez said. "We bothered them the entire night. I don't think they were ever comfortable."

Keithly carried the Knights in the first half when he scored 12 of his 18, then Watkins took over in the second half when he scored 17 of his 22. Watkins also ended up with a double-double after pulling down 11 rebounds.

Lopez said he also received solid play from Adolpho Arias, one of the smallest players on the floor. He finished with eight points.

"Adolpho played a great game," Lopez said. "He battled their big guys."

After Kelseyville cut St. Bernard's lead to eight points in the final minutes, the Crusaders put the game away.

"They hit a couple of daggers," Lopez said.

St. Bernard's defeated Willits 75-41 in first-round action Thursday.

Willits 44, Upper Lake 40

At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars took a 36-32 lead into the fourth quarter but the Willits Wolverines rallied for the win in second-round action at the Cougars Small Schools Classic.

Both teams are 1-1 in the round-robin competition. The Cougars are 1-2 on the season.

"It's definitely on me," Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes said of his team's play down the stretch. "I didn't make the adjustments. It's on me, not them."

Sammy Avalos scored 12 points for the Cougars, Darian Loans Arrow added nine more, all on 3-pointers, and Kai Young had eight points.

Hayes said Blaine Rhodes' solid play on defense was a bright spot for the Cougars.

"Sammy is the heart of this team but Blaine is one of those glue guys. He doesn't get all the accolades the other guys like Sammy and Kai get, but he makes it possible for them to do what they do."

Upper Lake closes out tournament play Saturday against St. Bernard's of Eureka, 2-0 in tournament action after its win over Kelseyville on Friday.

Fort Bragg 62, Lower Lake 47

At Lakeport, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves beat Lower Lake in the first round of the round-robin Larrea Memorial Tournament, dropping the Trojans to 0-2 on the season.

Scoring and other game details were not reported to the Record-Bee.

Fort Bragg also beat Lower Lake in the tournament's JV bracket 59-38.