16 days later, Mustangs rout Eagles 55-28
Sophomore Hart, freshman Hoogendoorn power Middletown
MIDDLETOWN >> Sixteen days in January could be the title of an upcoming mini-series documenting the saga of Lake County high school basketball teams doing pretty much everything but playing basketball this month.
In the case of the Middletown High School varsity girls basketball team, 16 days in January marks the time between their last game — Jan. 5 against St. Helena — and the Mustangs’ 58-28 North Central League I win over the visiting Cloverdale Eagles on Friday night.
“It’s not your usual late January,” Middletown head coach Andy Brown said. “Usually by this point you’re grinding.”
January 2022 has been as unusual as it gets for the county’s athletic teams, basketball and wrestling alike.
“We’ve had our bags packed for 16 days ready to play,” Brown said. “We’ve been champing at the bit.”
If there’s a silver lining for the Mustangs, they’ve used their practice time wisely and, according to Brown, have practiced themselves to pieces. They’re ready to start making up all the games they’ve lost to COVID-19 postponements, and that’s a lot. Middletown improved to 4-0 in league and 9-5 overall with its win over Cloverdale, but the Mustangs should be well past the halfway point of their 16-game NCL I schedule by this time of year.
Middletown faces a busy final three weeks of the regular season although it still has some work to do this week as the Mustangs host Fort Bragg on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., part of a mixed four-game set. Middletown’s junior varsity girls play Upper Lake in a nonleague game at 11:30 a.m. (Fort Bragg doesn’t have a JV girls team), the Middletown-Fort Bragg JV boys follow at 1 p.m., and the
Middletown-Fort Bragg boys meet in the late game at 4:30 p.m.
There were all kinds of positives for Middletown as it really put it on a rebuilding Cloverdale squad (24, 4-9). The Mustangs outscored the Eagles 23-2 in the first quarter and 33-4 in the first half, sophomore Amanda Hart leading the way with 19 points. Called up earlier in the season to give the Mustangs some much-needed depth, Hart has moved from reserve to part-time starter in short order. Full-time starter may be in her near future.
“It’s a good problem to have,” Brown said. “She’s turning out to be a big asset.”
More help is on the way too as senior Georgia Guerrero, injured in Middletown’s final game of the North Coast Section soccer playoffs back in November, made her first appearance of the season, playing approximately two minutes in the second half.
“Between physical therapy (for a knee injury), attending our practices and showing up at every game to support her teammates, she’s worked really hard to get back out there,” Brown said. “It’s uplifting for the team to see her back on the floor.”
Middletown continued to pull away from Cloverdale in the second half and took a 52-13 lead into the fourth quarter. A running clock was used the rest of the way.
“We came out defensive heavy,” Brown said of the Mustangs’ solid play. “We forced a lot of turnovers.”
Freshman Mia Hoogendoorn added 17 points, including four 3-pointers, Paige Astley had nine points and Skylar Williams six for the Mustangs.
JV game Middletown suited up only six players for the JV game but dominated Cloverdale 42-24 behind double-digit scoring efforts from Brooklyn Wood with 16 points, Bella Santiago with 14 points and Abby Tacla with 11 points.