M’town rolls out 86 in NCL I debut

Mustangs win big at The Barn; Knights knock off RUP as Cougars fall

>> Opening their North Central League I schedule with a 86-40 beatdown of the Lower Lake Trojans, the Middletown High School varsity boys basketball team improved to 4-0 on the season Tuesday night at The Barn in Middletown.

“We had a full house and the energy was through the roof,” said assistant coach Brady Rockwell, who was filling in for head coach G.J. Rockwell. “It was electric in there.”

Middletown (1-0 league, 4-0 overall) executed at both ends of the floor and scored at least 21 points in every quarter.

“The boys are clicking, hitting on all cylinders,” Rockwell said. “Our defense leads to our offense and our defense is playing real well right now.”

Middletown’s 1-2-2 zone defense caused Lower Lake plenty of problems, according to both Rockwell and Lower Lake head coach Marcus Humphrey.

“We made sloppy passes and you can’t do that against a good team,” Humphrey said. “At least we know what we have to work on.”

Humphrey also said the Trojans (0-1, 0-5) weren’t as prepared as they need to be for the Mustangs.

“We weren’t able place to practice Monday and that didn’t help,” he said. “I’m looking forward to them coming to Lower Lake (Jan. 20).”

Humphrey was referring to Lower Lake’s win at home against Middletown during the 2020 league campaign when the two teams split their league meetings, each winning at home.

“We’ll be better prepared,” he said.

Brody Breeden’s 20 points powered the Mustangs, Lucas DaCosta added 16, including two 3-pointers, and Cole Ketchum had 14.

Marquis Jones had 17 points, 15 of those on five 3-pointers, to lead the Trojans. Jett Guralas, Micah Gurule and Dylan Sherman added six points apiece. The Trojans scored 30 of their 40 points on 3-pointers.

Middletown is back in action Thursday against host Healdsburg in a first-round game at the Redwood Empire Invitational in Healdsburg. Tip-off is 8 p.m. Lower Lake is off until next Tuesday when the Trojans visit Kelseyville for a league game.

In other league openers Tuesday:

Kelseyville 47, RUP 40

At Kelseyville, Jake Keithly went off for 16 points, including three second-half 3-pointers, as the Kelseyville Knights turned on the defense and then the offense in their NCL I opener against the Roseland University Prep Knights of Santa Rosa.

Kelseyville (1-0, 2-3) outscored RUP 30-21 in the second half while its defense limited RUP to just three points in the second quarter and four in the third quarter.

“We switched up defenses,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said. “We went from man to a 1-2-2 zone and dialed in their shooters. We went to a small-ball lineup to better match up with them.”

Kyle Leary finished with 11 points and hit three pressurepacked free throws down the stretch to keep Kelseyville safely in front.

“He attacked in the lane and played smart with four fouls down the stretch,” Lopez said of Leary.

Luke Watkins finished with nine points and a 3-pointer and Earl Lingcong added seven points and a 3-pointer as Kelseyville won its second straight.

Kelseyville also won the junior varsity game, 51-36, behind 11 points apiece from Kyle Watkins and Tyler Bryant.

Kelseyville is off until next Tuesday when it hosts Lower Lake in a league game. Two days later the Knights open play in the Stokes Tournament, which they host.

Credo 58, Upper Lake 45

At Rohnert Park, despite six 3-pointers and 25 points from Kai Young, the Upper Lake Cougars lost their NCL II opener to the Credo Gryphon.

“We can’t put a full game together,” Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes said of the Cougars’ inconsistent play from quarter to quarter.

Turnovers were a big problem against Credo as Upper Lake (0-1, 1-4) committed 20-plus, according to Hayes.

“You can’t turn the ball over that many times,” he said.

Only four Upper Lake players scored in the game. Besides Young, Sammy Avalos had 12 points, Darian Loans Arrow added six and Blaine Rhodes had the other two.

“We do better when we share the ball,” Hayes said.

Upper Lake led 12-8 after one quarter but Credo pushed in front with a 2012 second quarter. The Gryphon took a 41-33 lead into the final period.

Each time the Cougars tried to make a run in the second half Credo answered with a big shot of its own to halt Upper Lake’s momentum, according to Hayes.

“The kids are playing hard but they need to play together,” Hayes added.

Upper Lake returns to action Wednesday night against Potter Valley at 8 p.m. in the opening round of the Potter Valley Tournament.