ARBUCKLE — Roaring out of the blocks with a 22-5 first quarter, the Middletown High School varsity boys basketball team proceeded to hammer Orland 67-43 in the winner's semifinal round of the Pierce Tournament on Thursday night in Arbuckle.

Middletown (2-0) plays Dixon for the tournament title Friday night at 8 p.m. Orland (2-1) drops into the third-place game.

"They're pretty aggressive (on defense), but we were able to move the up the floor and get some good looks," Middletown head coach G.J. Rockwell said of the Trojans. "Everyone played well and we shot the ball well all night."

"Luke (Hoogendoorn) did a great job controlling the tempo of the game," Rockwell said of his senior guard.

Another guard, Lucas DaCosta, turned in a strong effort on the defensive end while also scoring 10 points, one of four Mustangs to finish in double digits. Cole Ketchum led the way with 15 points, post Body Breeden added 12 points, and both DaCosta and Wyatt Moore added 10 points apiece.

"Brody had a lot of rebounds for us," Rockwell said. "They had a big kid but he did a good job against him."

Middletown also received solid play off the bench from Evan Harper.

"He gave me some good minutes off the bench, he had a bunch of rebounds," Rockwell said.'

"It was a total group effort on the defensive end," Rockwell said as the Mustangs limited Orland to 13 first-half points.

Middletown owned a 35-13 lead at halfitme.

After losing the entire 2020-21 to the COVID-19 pandemic, Middletown is going to make the most of every  practice and game this season, according to Rockwell.

"We're going to soak up every bit of it and enjoy it," Rockwell said.

Upper Lake 56, Kelseyville 44

At Upper Lake, two nights after Clear Lake used a big fourth quarter to beat Upper Lake in the season opener for both teams, the Cougars outscored Kelseyville 22-12 down the stretch to defeat the Knights in first-round play at the Small Schools Tournament.

"We had 12 or 13 steals in the fourth quarter," Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes said after posting his first win as the Cougars' head coach. "We had lots of steals and free throws, we were playing like a team and it was nice to watch. Both teams played hard."

The game was close nearly the entire way. Tied at 14 after one quarter, Kelseyville (0-2) took a 27-24 lead into halftime. Upper Lake (1-1) held a 34-32 lead going into the fourth quarter. The game was tied with six minutes left when the Cougars made their move, according to Hayes.

"We put a little run together and rebounded well," Hayes said.

"We just turned the ball over too much and they took advantage," Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said. "They (Cougars) did really well."

Sammy Avalos, the Cougars' leading scorer with 23 points, and Darian Loans Arrow, called up from the junior varsity squad earlier in the day, each had nine points in the fourth quarter. All of Loans Arrow's 12 points came on 3-pointers.

Hayes said the Cougars had "at least" 20 steals in the victory.

Luke Watkins provided the bulk of Kelseyville's offense with 26 points. No other Knights player had more than four.

"He was kind of a one-man show out there," Lopez said. "We had some other guys in early foul trouble. We're struggling from the floor right now and relying on Luke."

Kyle Grandi had eight points for the Cougars, including one of their seven 3-pointers. Watkins had five of the Knights' six 3-pointers.

Both teams return to action Friday as the round-robin tournament, which runs through Saturday, continues. Kelseyville plays St. Bernard's of Eureka at 5 p.m. while Upper Lake takes on Willits at 8 p.m.