Minus top two players, M’town wins
Understrength MHS boys overpower Timberwolves
MIDDLETOWN >> The prospect of playing the Fort Bragg Timberwolves without his two top players was a frightening one for Middletown High School varsity basketball head coach G.J. Rockwell on Saturday afternoon.
It should have frightened Fort Bragg.
Minus senior guard Cole Ketchum (sore ankle), who suited up but never entered the game, and senior center Brody Breeden (sore wrist), who played parts of the second and third quarters but did not score, the Mustangs jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back, rolling to an easy 51-24 North Central League I win over Fort Bragg that was all Middletown from opening tipoff to final buzzer.
“The bench guys really stepped it up,” a smiling Rockwell said following the lopsided victory, one the veteran Middletown coach didn’t think would be that easy with his two top scorers stuck on the bench. “I really didn’t want to play either of them … or play them as little as possible.”
Reserve guards Wyatt Grothe and Wyatt Moore replaced Ketchum and in the starting lineup, giving the Mustangs (4-1 league, 12-3 overall) a four-guard look (joining starting guards Lucas DaCosta and Luke Hoogendoorn) along with forward Zach Dubois.
“We went small,” Rockwell said. “They did the things we wanted them to do … played incredible defense and held the boards down against a much bigger Fort Bragg team. I was happy with that.”
They also shared the scoring load about as well as any coach could have asked. Dubois led an ultra-balanced attack with 14 points, DaCosta scored 12 points and Hoogendoorn 10, and Grothe chipped in nine more. The Mustangs also hit five 3-pointers, two by Dubois.
Middletown led 17-8 after one
quarter, 25-13 at halftime and 38-16 through three quarters.
“We led right out of the gate,” Rockwell said. “All the guys played well. They did all the little things.”
Middletown’s players weren’t the only ones pushing hard the entire game. So was Rockwell, who was exhorting his players on even after the game was in the bag.
“I can still never be comfortable,” Rockwell joked.
Middletown hosts Clear Lake on Thursday and hits the road Friday to play St. Helena.
JV game
Middletown’s junior varsity boys team improved to 4-1 in league and 8-4 overall with a 80-47 rout of Fort Bragg that featured double-doubles from Oscar Cruz (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Cooper Johnson (10 points, 12 rebounds). Brandon Costlow led the Mustangs with 18 points, Dom Williams added 15 more, and Jackson Conley added eight points and six assists.
“They played together as team and moved the ball well,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “We had only three turnovers the entire game.”
Middletown led 37-24 at halftime and had the game well in hand through three quarters at 59-35.