WILLITS — With a little help from the Clear Lake Cardinals, the Middletown Mustangs clinched the outright North Central League I varsity girls basketball championship Tuesday night with a 45-42 victory over the Willits Wolverines at Willits.

As the Mustangs (11-0 league, 16-5 overall) were holding off the Wolverines, the red-hot Clear Lake Cardinals knocked off the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 27-25 at Fort Bragg. The loss eliminated the Timberwolves (11-3) from title contention as Middletown has only two games remaining -- Thursday at home against Roseland University Prep and Saturday at Kelseyville.

Middletown 45, Willits 42

At Willits, Paige Astley led the way with 14 points while Mia Hoogendoorn added 10 points and a team-high six steals as the Mustangs wrapped up the NCL I crown in a defensive struggle.

"Mia had six steals and that helped a lot," Middletown head coach Andy Brown said.

Middletown made the final minute plenty exciting while trying to protect a 45-40 lead.

"We turned the ball over and then we fouled them (sending the Wolverines to the line)," Brown said. "But we held on. We did just enough to win tonight."

The Mustangs didn't learn of Clear Lake's win over Fort Bragg until after their game.

"It feels really good," Brown said of clinching the league championship with two more league games left on his schedule. "It was an outstanding team effort."

Amanda Hart and Ella Rockwell each had six points for the NCL I champions.

"I'm really proud of these girls," Brown said. "We definitely had to grind it out, but when the going gets tough, these girls are capable of some great stuff."

Middletown also won the junior varsity game, 40-20. Bella Santiago's 24 points led the Mustangs and Brooklyn Wood had 11.

Clear Lake 27, Fort Bragg 25

Clear Lake veteran head coach Phil Psalmonds said he can't remember winning a game at any level with only 27 points, but the Cardinals did it on Tuesday to pull into a virtual second-place tie with Fort Bragg (11-3) in the league standings. Clear Lake improved to 8-3 and 11-9 overall with its fourth straight league victory.

"Can you believe that?" Psalmonds said of the low-scoring affair on Fort Bragg's senior night.

"If the drive home is as ugly as this game, we're going to have to call AAA," Psalmonds said of the lowest-scoring game of the season involving a Lake County varsity team. "Lots of defense, an ugly grind-it type of game, old school girls basketball."

Neither team reached the bonus in the loosely officiated contest that featured plenty of physical play.

With two minutes left in the game Clear Lake had been assessed just one team foul, and it served them well in the final seconds as Fort Bragg inbounded the ball underneath the basket, a field goal away from tying or even taking the lead.

"We weren't close to being in the bonus, so I just told the girls to grab whoever had the ball," Psalmonds said.

The Cardinals used up precious clock in the process without sending Fort Bragg to the free-throw line.

The Timberwolves did managed to get off a rushed 3-pointer as time ran out, the ball hitting the left side of the rim and bouncing away harmlessly.

"I thought it was going in at first, it had the right trajectory, but it missed to the left, which was a great relief," Psalmonds said.

Clear Lake's Sierra Bruch had scored 21 points in each of her previous two games but was held scoreless against the Wolverines. Even so, Psalmonds said her outstanding defense was pivotal in the Cardinals' latest victory.

"Bruch played great defense," Psalmonds said. "All of our guards did."

Clear Lake forced Willits into four 30-second violations.

Sydney Howe's 12 points led the Cardinals and Amber Smart had six.

There was no JV game.

Cloverdale 72, Kelseyville 46

At Cloverdale, Tylie Hatcher poured in 35 points to go along with 11 rebounds, five steals and five assists as the Cloverdale Eagles beat the Kelseyville Knights, who were without senior Larue Furlani, injured during the Knight's game at Willits on Sunday.

Cloverdale improved to 6-7 in league play while Kelseyville fell to 1-9 and 1-16 overall despite 24 points from Emily Sandoval.

Amara Galvan had 12 points and eight rebounds for Cloverdale. Alondra Ortiz had six points for Kelseyville.

"Emily had a great game," Kelseyville head coach Bonnie Thomasson said.

Kelseyville hosts Fort Bragg on Wednesday night.

Cloverdale also won the JV game, 47-18. Camryn Donahoo led Cloverdale with 24 points and Isabella Ostrand had eight points for Kelseyville.

Upper Lake 52, Tomales 34

At Tomales, Heaven'Lee Loans Arrow's double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds and Taylar Minnis' 19 points propelled the Cougars to a title-clinching victory over the Tomales Braves in NCL II action. While the Cougars (8-0, 18-2) still have one league game remaining, that on Thursday at home against Sonoma Academy, they've already clinched the outright NCL II championship, defending the title they won in 2020 (there was no 2021 race because of COVID-19).

"The girls were kind of tired from last night's game against Piner," said Upper Lake assistant coach Raelene Cromwell, who was filling in for head coach Mike Smith (school commitment).

After a slow start, the Cougars picked up the pace on offense.

"We played really good defense," Cromwell said.

Maddy Young filled up the stats sheet in the victory with eight points, six rebounds, six assists and three blocks. Zoey Petrie added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists while Maddy Noble pulled down seven rebounds.