MIDDLETOWN — The only team that can stop the Middletown Mustangs from winning the North Central League I varsity girls basketball championship this season is a club head coach Andy Brown knows all too well.

It's the Middletown Mustangs.

"We'd really have to mess things up," Brown said after the Mustangs improved to 9-0 in the league standings and 14-5 ovearll with a hard-fought 41-36 victory over the Willits Wolverines on Saturday afternoon at The Barn in Middletown.

Fort Bragg (10-2) and Willits (6-3) are Middletown's closest pursuers with one week remaining in the regular season, which runs through Feb. 12. The Mustangs have four scheduled games next week, only one of which is against a team with a winning record (Willits on Tuesday in Willits). The odds of the Mustangs losing twice next week are pretty small, so barring a Middletown meltdown, Brown's team is headed to the upcoming North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs as the NCL I's undisputed winner.

"We get a day of rest (Sunday), then we play four games in six days," Brown said. "Anything can happen, but it's looking pretty good for us."

Willits entered play Saturday at Middletown needing a win to remain in the league race and the Wolverines certainly gave it their best shot, according Brown.

"Willits takes away anything within five feet of the basket, they shut down your post game," Brown said of the Wolverines' defense. "We had a lot of good looks and open shots from the outside, but we didn't shoot very well. If we had shot like we did last night (in a 59-35 win at Cloverdale), we would have beaten them by 20."

Middletown shot just 27 percent from the field against Willits. Many of the misses were particularly frustrating, according to Brown.

"We had so many balls that went in and out, shots that were down and popped back up," Brown said. "Jaidyn Brown had two 3s that went in and out."

The Mustangs also got into early foul trouble. Senior Paige Astley picked up two fouls in the first 80 seconds, forcing her off the floor and depriving Brown of one of his top scorers and defenders. By game's end, Astley, Mia Hoogendoorn, Kamryn Atkins and Ella Rockwell all had four fouls.

"We were constantly swapping personnel," Brown said.

Through it all, the Mustangs never let up.

"We worked ourselves through it," Brown said. "Jaidyn Brown was our floor general the last few minutes."

Brown also hit the front end of a one-and-one with seconds remaining to give Middletown a 39-36 lead. Willits called a timeout to set up a play but Hoogendoorn spoiled the strategy by stealing the ball near midcourt. She was driving on the basket when Willits was called for a non-shooting foul. Hoogendoorn, a freshman, stepped to the free-throw line and calmly buried both ends of a one-and-one to seal the victory.

Hoogendoorn led the Mustangs with 12 points while Astley added nine and Brown eight.

After hitting the road Monday to play Lower Lake, the Mustangs travel to Willits on Tuesday for a rematch with the Wolverines.

"We're gonna have to come up with a new gameplan when we go up there to play them," Brown said.

In junior varsity action, Middletown beat Willits 36-19. Bella Santiago's 15 points led the way for the Mustangs while Abby Tacla added eight and Brooklyn Wood had six.

Clear Lake 64, Cloverdale 41

At Cloverdale, Sydney Howe and Sierra Bruch combined for more points than there were fans in the stands at the Cloverdale High School gym as the Clear Lake Cardinals pulled away in the second half to defeat the Cloverdale Eagles.

Howe went off for 28 points, including five 3-pointers, while Bruch added 21 points and five 3-pointers as the Cardinals improved to 6-3 in the NCL I standings and 9-9 overall. They take Sunday off before playing four games in a row next week -- home Monday against Willits, at Fort Bragg on Tuesday, at Lower Lake on Wednesday and home Thursday against Cloverdale.

"I think they were having a little contest," Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said of Howe and Bruch. "They were both shooting the ball great in warmups and I was hoping they could do that once the game started. They did."

Bruch buried three 3-pointers and scored 11 points overall in the first quarter as the Cardinals moved out to a 15-8 lead, and Howe hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points overall in the second quarter as Clear Lake went into halftime up 29-21. Howe also scored eight points in the fourth quarter.

Cloverdale weathered the Bruch-Howe onslaught fairly well, according to Psalmonds.

"They were playing great in the first half, shooting the ball very well," Psalmonds said. "I was thinking at some point we have to put some separation between us."

That separation came in the form of a 20-10 third quarter that boosted Clear Lake's lead to 49-31.

"We kept scoring and they got into a bit of a rut," Psalmonds said of the Eagles.

Clear Lake hit 11 shots from behind the 3-point arc.

Attendance was limited at the game because of Sonoma County's COVID-19 protocols regarding indoor sporting events. Each team was allowed to submit a list of up to 25 fans.

"We had 19," Psalmonds said.

There was no JV game.

 

 

 

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