M’town, K’ville boys add league wins

Moore’s 19 points spark Mustangs, Acosta drops 24 for Knights against RUP

Wyatt Moore scored eight of his team-leading 19 points at the free-throw while teammates Nadav Dicovski and Adrian Backus turned in double-double performances in Middletown’s 59-51 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action Thursday night at Lower Lake High School.

“We kept our heads down and kept attacking the rim,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “Wyatt Moore is stepping up as a senior guard. He’s getting after it.”

As are Dicovski (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Backus (11 points, 13 rebounds), who helped Middletown build a 29-25 halftime lead. It was still close after three quarters with the Mustangs in front 45-39.

“We were getting after them on defense and we did a good job rebounding,” Diehl said of the team’s 42 boards.

“They made their free throws and we didn’t,” Lower Lake head coach Blaine Amos said. “It was close all the way up to the end. We played good defense.”

Middletown (4-4, 8-9) pushed its lead into double digits before Lower Lake (2-7, 8-10) battled back.

Micah Gurule’s 16 points and 13 more from Jett Guralas powered the Trojans. Amos said Gurule, who bruised his hip during the game, turned in a strong performance.

In the junior varsity game, Middletown beat Lower Lake 58-26 behind freshman guard/ forward Jon Hawkins’ doubledouble of 11 points and 14 rebounds. He also had six assists, three steals and a block. Anthony Bowerman finished with 13 points and Aidan Wright had 11.

Middletown, now 7- 1 in league, raced out to a 23-0 lead during a 25-3 first quarter. It was 31-9 at halftime.

In other NCL I boys action Thursday:

Kelseyville 68, RUP 45

At Kelseyville, Manny Acosta hit his first four shots from the field, including three 3-pointers, as the Kelseyville Knights opened the second half of their NCL I schedule with a win over Roseland University Prep.

Coming off a 29-point game Tuesday against Willits, Acosta came back with 24 points against RUP. Eight of his points came during the Knights’ 19-3 first quarter.

“We came out guns ready,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said.

Kelseyville (7-2, 11-7) lost a bit of momentum in the second quarter, but scored 22 points in the third quarter to open up a 52-30 lead.

“We’ve got to get back to playing basketball at a high level so that we’re peaking at the right time,” Lopez said.

Luke Watkins added 17 points and six rebounds and Adolfo Arias pulled down a team-best 11 rebounds. Earl Lingcong came off the Kelseyville bench to scored seven points and grab eight rebounds.

Kelseyville played without starter Kyle Watkins (sore shoulder) for the second straight game. He’ll likely play Saturday when the Knights host Lower Lake.

In the JV game, Kelseyville outscored Roseland University Prep 25-6 in the first quarter while rolling to its eighth league win in nine games.

Brock Barrick led the Knights (8-1) with 15 points, joining teammates Ryder Leary (11 points) and Max Hommer (10 points) in double digits. Sebastian Chavez added nine.

Adam Astrup pulled down eight rebounds and Hommer led the team with five assists.

The Knights went into halftime up 37-20.