LAKEPORT — Sierra Bruch scored 21 points for the second straight game as the Clear Lake Cardinals moved into sole possession of third place in the North Central League I varsity girls basketball standings with a 49-39 victory over the Willits Wolverines on Monday night in Lakeport.

Clear Lake (7-3 league, 10-9 overall) is getting hot at just the right time, as is Bruch, with the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs set to begin next week. The Cardinals have won three in a row and four of five going into Tuesday's road contest at Fort Bragg (11-2). Clear Lake lost to Fort Bragg 42-40 on Jan. 29 in Fort Bragg, but the Cardinals also lost to Willits, 47-40, in their league opener way back on Dec. 14 in Willits.

"She played well, and at both ends," Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said of Bruch, who sank four more 3-pointers after hitting five treys in a 64-41 win Saturday against Cloverdale. "Her defense has always been there, but now she's found her (shooting) stroke."

Clear Lake nursed a 33-32 lead into the fourth quarter but wore out the Wolverines in the final period.

"We kept switching our defense and finally settled on a man-to-man and just wore them down," Psalmonds said of the Wolverines, who suit up only seven players and used a rotation of six. "We were able to get a few easy baskets."

Holding a four-point lead late in the game, Clear Lake pulled the ball out and made Willits come and get it.

"They're not a good man-to-man team," Psalmonds said.

Sydney Howe added 11 points and Montana Wells had six in the win.

Abby Mertle's post defense helped shut Willits down inside, according to Psalmonds.

"They have a big girl and Abby shadowed her everywhere. She really played good defense," Psalmonds said.

Willits, once 5-0 in the league standings, fell to 7-4.

Clear Lake also won the junior varsity game, 43-24, behind 14 points from Quincy Paarsch and nine each from Lilianna Cruz and Emily Gersalia.

In other girls action Monday:

Middletown 38, Lower Lake 29

At Lower Lake, the NCL I-leading Middletown Mustangs improved to 10-0 in league play and 15-5 overall with a hard-fought win over the Trojans (3-6, 5-12), who managed to stay in the game despite being outscored 12-0 in the second quarter.

"That gym always has been kind of funky with us," Middletown head coach Andy Brown said of the new Lower Lake gym. "We made a lot of turnovers in the first half, so did they, but our defense played well. You don't win many games scoring only 38 points."

"Our defensive is coming around the last few games, but we cannot shoot it or take of it (the basketball)," Tubbs said. "We made 24 turnovers tonight."

The Trojans also ran into some foul trouble late trailing by only six points with 1:16 remaining. That's when one of their top players, Tiahna Tubbs, picked up her fifth foul.

Jaidyn Brown scored 11 of her team-leading 13 points in the first half for Middletown, including a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter.

"She was excellent tonight," Brown said. "She played both ends of the court real well."

Tubbs agreed.

"Jaidyn Brown played a good game. She disrupted the top of our offense with her footwoork," Tubbs said.

Lower Lake led 10-9 after the opening quarter and trailed 21-10 after failing to score in the second period. It was 32-20 going to the fourth quarter.

"I've got to hand it to Lower Lake," Brown said. "They kept disrupting our offense the whole way."

Margarita Cordova led the Trojans with 10 points and Tubbs finished with seven. Besides Brown's 13 points for Middletown, Mia Hoogendoorn added seven and Paige Astley had six.

Middletown plays at Willits on Tuesday while Lower Lake hosts Clear Lake on Wednesday.

The Mustangs also won the JV game, 35-19, behind 22 points from Bella Santiago and eight from Abby Tacla. Ayla Ales' eight points led the Trojans, who are 3-4 in league and 7-8 overall.

Upper Lake 56, Piner 52

At Santa Rosa, Upper Lake bolted out to a 12-0 lead but the Piner Prospectors battled back to go up 27-26 at halftime before falling to the Cougars in a non-league game that went down to the wire.

Upper Lake (17-2) was looking for a game against a tough opponent to prepare itself for the start of the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs next week and the Prospectors (15-8), a member of the North Bay-Redwood League, obliged by giving the Cougars all they could handle.

"It was that emotional test where things don't go right, they smacked us in the face in the second quarter, but we came back to win it," Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said. "It had that playoff kind of atmosphere we were looking for."

Piner erased Upper Lake's 16-6 lead after one quarter with a 21-10 second period.

"We regrouped at halftime," Smith said.

Leading 39-38 going to the fourth quarter, the Cougars had to overcome the loss of Maddy Young, who fouled out, and Heaven'Lee Loans Arrow (14 points), who left with back spasms.

"Zoey stepped up," Smith said of senior guard Zoey Petrie (10 points). "She was the heart and soul of our defense in that quarter and she also hit a big 3-pointer and two free throws. She was our go-to person to control the ball, she showed her senior leadership and left it all out on the court. She was exhausted by the end of the game."

Taylar Minnis also came up big for Upper Lake, scoring all 19 of her team-leading points in the first three quarters.

"They started double-teaming her in the fourth quarter," Smith said.

Yet another standout was Madison Noble, who led the team in rebounding while also adding five points.

"Noble had some big rebounds," Smith said.

Young had six points before picking up her fifth foul.

Piner senior guard Sarah Tait led the Prospectors with 27 points, a large chunk of those coming in the second quarter.

"She's got like 1,500 career points, she's their player," Smith said. "She took control of that second quarter."

Upper Lake has only two games remaining in the regular season. The Trojans visit Tomales on Tuesday and return home Thursday against Sonoma Academy. A win in either game gives the Cougars the outright NCL II championship.

There was no JV game against Piner.