LAKEPORT — The Clear Lake Cardinals made a determined charge in the fourth quarter but couldn't catch the Middletown Mustangs on Thursday night in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action at the Clear Lake High School gym.

Middletown, behind 15 points from Brody Breeden, held off Clear Lake 46-38 before a large and noisy crowd.

Clear Lake's Joey Soderquist (right) knocks the ball from the grasp of Middletown's Brody Breeden during first-half action. Breeden scored a team-high 15 points for the Mustangs. (Photos courtesy of Trett Bishop)

"Both teams played hard, both teams had a lot of fans show up and they made a lot of noise, just the way it's supposed to be," Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said of something that hasn't been seen much this season because of COVID-19 restrictions in certain areas (all of Sonoma County, for starters) that limit the number of spectators inside gyms.

Middletown (5-1 league, 13-3 overall) took a 39-21 lead into the fourth quarter. Clear Lake (2-2, 6-6) cut that deficit to five points before running out of time, according to Damiata.

"We turned up the pressure, got aggressive and took chances," he said of the Cardinals' play down the stretch. "We created a little chaos. The guys played great in the fourth quarter. I wish we could have played that way the whole game."

Breeden, limited by a wrist injury in recent weeks, scored seven of his nine first-half points in the second quarter as Middletown moved out to a 22-16 halftime lead. Another Middletown senior starter, Cole Ketchum, who did not play at all in a home win against Fort Bragg on Saturday because of a high ankle sprain, scored six of his seven points in the third quarter as the Mustangs upped their lead to 18 by the end of the period.

"Brody had a good game," Middletown head coach G.J. Rockwell said. "He's getting better, but he's still beat up. He's just a tough kid. Cole is back a little bit, but he's not 100 percent. Most of Cole's game is that first step. High ankle sprains are tricky."

The low-scoring, defensive battle was not at all unexpected, according to Damiata.

Clear Lake's Zane Robinson drives inside for two of his team-leading 14 points as Middletown's Zach Dubois defends down low.

"You know what you're going to get when you play G.J's teams," Damiata said. "It's going to be super physical when you play those guys. We didn't match their intensity the whole game, only half the game, and that was the difference."

"It was a grinding game," Rockwell added. "They got hot there for a while and hit some threes. We didn't take care of the ball very well in that fourth quarter. They (Cardinals) did a good job."

Zane Robinson led the Cardinals with 14 points while Joey Soderquist added eight and Ethan Maize six.

"Zane was aggressive and taking the ball to the hole," Damiata said. "I need him to be a scorer and he was tonight."

Middletown spread out its scoring after Breeden's 15 points. Ketchum, Zach Dubois and Luke Hoogendoorn all finished with seven while Wyatt Grothe and Lucas DaCosta had five each.

Rockwell said Dubois' rebounding and defense were a huge factor in the victory.

"Zach had a lot of key rebounds and good stops on defense," Rockwell added. "Overall as a team we did a good job. The defense did a good job getting stops."

The Mustangs were scheduled to play at St. Helena on Friday but that game has been postponed for non-COVID reasons. Middletown and Clear Lake meet again Monday night in Middletown. Before the Cardinals play the Mustangs on Monday, they are home Friday against Roseland University Prep and home Saturday against St. Helena.

There was no junior varsity game.

In other boys games Thursday:

Cloverdale 56, Kelseyville 37

At Kelseyville, the Cloverdale Eagles were able to get out and run early and run they did while beating the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I action.

Cloverdale, now 8-0 in league and 18-0 overall, scored 17 in each of the first two quarters to open up a 34-16 halftime lead.

"They got out on fastbreaks early, we made a lot of turnovers," Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said. "That's where they beat us, on the fastbreak. They really didn't do much against us in their half-court offense."

Lopez said his team's month-long layoff because of winter break followed by nearly three weeks of COVID-19 game postponements has taken a huge toll.

"We're not in sync," he said. "They (Eagles) just physically beat us tonight. It's rare for a team to physically beat us this season."

While Kelseyville's leading scorer on the season, guard Luke Watkins (12 points), returned to action after missing the Knights' 43-36 loss to Fort Bragg on Tuesday because of COVID-19 protocols, he was tentative with his shot selection, according to Lopez.

"He was a little gun shy," Lopez said. "He was back, but he wasn't in any kind of rhythm."

One bright spot for Kelseyville (2-2, 6-8) was the play of Joey Gentle, who finished with six points — the next most after Watkins' 12.

"Gentle plays scrappy. He's the only guy rolling right now," Lopez said.

Kelseyville plays four games next week, the first three of those on the road beginning with Monday's contest at St. Helena. A scheduled Tuesday game with Fort Bragg has been postponed. Instead, the Trojans will play at Lower Lake on Tuesday.

The news was a lot better for Kelseyville in Thursday's JV game as the Knights handed Cloverdale a 61-40 loss behind 13 points from Max Hommer, 12 from Ryder Leary and 11 from Tyler Bryant.

"Max played a great game," Lopez said.

St. Helena 60, Lower Lake 51

At Lower Lake, in a game scheduled at the last minute, the Lower Lake Trojans carried a 30-27 lead into halftime but ended up losing to the St. Helena Saints in NCL I action.

St. Helena (3-3) pushed ahead with a 17-10 third quarter, a period during which the Trojans (1-5, 1-13) struggled to get into their offense. They also got into some serious foul trouble in the second half.

"Nine of their (Saints') 16 points in the fourth quarter were free throws," Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said. "We were trying to be aggressive and we fouled them a lot."

Although Lower Lake's Micah Gurule ended up fouling out in the fourth quarter, he turned in a solid performance at both ends of the floor while scoring 11 points and pulling down nine rebounds.

"Gurule played aggressive and did a great job," Jakubowski said.

Jett Guralas led the Trojans in scoring with 15 points and Marquis Jones returned to the lineup after a long layoff and added 13 points. Mason Barnes had eight points and seven rebounds.

"He's just a hard worker who goes out there and sets the tempo for us," Jakubowski said of Barnes. "I really like his energy."

Having Jones, the Trojans' leading scorer on the season, back in the mix provided a big lift, according to Jakubowski, although he kept cramping up in the third and fourth quarters, limiting his time on the floor.

Lower Lake travels to Willits on Friday and plays Roseland University Prep on Monday in Santa Rosa.

St. Helena beat Lower Lake in JV action. The final score was not available.