Brown returns, Mustangs beat Trojans

RUP’s 42-33 victory keeps Kelseyville winless in league play

>> Senior point guard Jaidyn Brown was back on the floor for the Middletown Mustangs on Thursday night in a 62-39 win over the Lower Lake Trojans in North Central League I varsity girls basketball action at Middletown.

Brown sustained a knee injury late in Middletown’s home win Jan. 5 over St. Helena, which sidelined her until Thursday night. The Mustangs went 1-2 in the three games she missed. Brown played limited minutes against the Trojans, finishing with five points.

“We wanted to see how she was moving on it on the floor and see how she was feeling after,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said. “She said she felt good (after the game), but we’ll see how she feels tomorrow.”

Holt said the Mustangs will be cautious with her playing time until they have a larger sample size to gauge her recovery.

“She was happy to be back out there and it was nice to have everyone back together again because it opens things up for us,” Holt said. “We’ll take it day to day. Her health is more important to us than winning games or league titles. We’re all family.”

Middletown (5-2, 11-5) opened strong and led 21-10 after one quarter. Sophomore Mia Hoogendoorn, mired in a bit of a slump entering play, hit her first shot of the game, a 3-pointer, and went on to have a big night with a team-leading 21 points.

“She’s putting in the hard work,” Holt said.

Bella Santiago added 12 points and Amanda Hart had 10 in the win. Tiahna Tubbs’ 14 points led the Trojans (3-6, 6-13), Ayla Ales had 11 and Izabella Salazar eight.

“We fell behind 21-10 and that’s another hole you’re digging yourself out of,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “We cut it to nine in the third quarter and again in the fourth quarter, but then we would make turnovers at the most inopportune times. Nine down turns into a 16- to 18-point game real quick when you’re playing a quality team.”

Added Tubbs, “Turnovers have been the story of our season.”

While the Lower Lake defense was able to limit to Hoogendoorn to four points in the second half, Tubbs said the damage had been done by that point.

“Our defense was a little better in the second half,” Tubbs said.

The Trojans made seven 3-pointers, including three by Ales.

In the junior varsity game, Lower Lake built a 23-5 halftime lead and went on to beat the Middletown Mustangs 3522.

“We knew which players needed to be shut down and we made them work,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Wiley said. “They got into foul trouble and we continued to roll. We could have had a stronger lead if we found a way to clean up our inside shots.”

Alyxa Milano’s 13 points led the Trojans, now 7-2 in league and 11-6 overlal. Brooke Benson added seven.

“We got outscored 23-5 in the the first half and went 4-for15 from the free-throw line,” Middletown head coach Jamie Burns said. “We make our free throws, we win the game.”

Added Burns, “Lower Lake did exactly what we wanted them to do but we couldn’t execute.” Brooklyn Wood led the Mustangs with 10 points and Sarah Fetters and Caylee Saelor each had five. The Mustangs lost starters Harley Holley and Autumn Clark to fouls.

In other girls action Thursday:

RUP 42, Kelseyville 33

At Santa Rosa, a 15-3 second quarter was the difference as RUP went on to beat Kelseyville, dropping the Knights to 0-9 in league and 1-18 overall.

Faith McIntire scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Knights, who trailed just 10-7 after one quarter. Olivia Hommer continued her run of double-doubles with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“Liv and Faith played pretty well,” Kelseyville head coach Terry McIntire said.

McIntire sank three 3-pointers. In the JV game, Kelseyville beat RUP 44-8 behind 16 points from Brianna Davis and 14 from Madison Renfro.