High school basketball roundup: Roseland University Prep boys vanquish rival Sonoma Academy

In a battle for first place in the North Central League II, the Roseland University Prep boys basketball team took care of business on the road to defeat Sonoma Academy 65-50.

RUP (7-0, 12-5) remains undefeated and in first place in league play while Sonoma Academy (7-1, 11-6) drops to second.

“RUP did a really good job in transition. They converted off the press better than us,” Sonoma Academy coach Luc Martin said. “They play an aggressive man-to-man defense that disrupted our half-court sets.”

RUP was led by Gilbert Jimenez (20 points), who scored from the outside, and Miguel Figueroa (18), who scored from the inside.

“Figueroa is very skilled in the post. He did a great job finishing around the rim,” Martin said. “He hurt us inside with offensive rebounds. I was really impressed by him.”

The Coyotes were led by Oscar McCauley with 12 points. Sonoma Academy had only one three-point basket, which stymied its offense.

“We are not built to score 60-plus points,” Martin said. “Our defense was not very good tonight. The game got a little out of hand a bit. They were the better team.”

Middletown 52, Clear Lake 39

The host Mustangs (5-2, 12-6) defeated the Cardinals (5-2, 11-8) with a big fourth-quarter rally.

Middletown, Clear Lake and Cloverdale are now in a three-way tie for second place in the North Central League I.

“This was a real big win for us because it ties us for second place,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said. “Clear Lake is a really good shooting team. In the fourth quarter they went cold and we took advantage of it.”

Middletown won the fourth quarter 16-7 and scored six of those points in transition off five steals.

“Middletown played really well. They are always tough at home,” Clear Lake coach Scott DeLeon said. “It was just overall a horrible shooting night for us. We had a lot of open looks that we did not knock down - credit Middletown for their zone defense.”

Clear Lake was 6 of 30 (20 percent) on three-point attempts and only converted 30 percent of two-point field goals attempts.

“We have got to shoot better,” DeLeon said.

Middletown was led by Andres Cervantes (14 points), Thomas Cook (13 points) and Jeffrey Morris (13 points).

Clear Lake was led by Tanner Hutton (12 points) and Darius Ford (12 points, including four 3-pointers).

RVC 48, Technology 41

The visiting Eagles (4-4, 9-7) got 13 points from Christian Gillette and nine points from Jacob Rennia-Guitterez to defeat the Titans (4-4, 12-6) in an NCL II battle for third place.

In girls games:

Cardinal Newman 68, Ukiah 18

Playing in front of their home fans for the first time this season after their campus was re-opened following October's Tubbs fire, the Cardinals (9-0, 17-4) wasted little time in putting away Ukiah (5-4, 12-9). Cardinal Newman remains undefeated and in first place in the North Bay League. The Wildcats remain in at least a tie for third place.

“It felt fantastic playing at home. We had a good crowd. It was a very long 20-game road trip,” Cardinal Newman coach Monica Mertle said. “The girls came out and played with a lot of energy on both ends of the court. They were happy to be on their home court.”

The Cardinals led 26-6 after the first quarter and 46-11 at halftime.

Cardinal Newman was led by Maiya Flores (22 points), Anya Choice (19 points), Avery Cargill (10 points, seven assists, four steals), and Aria Searcy (seven assists, eight rebounds).

Petaluma 43, Healdsburg 29

The Trojans (7-0, 16-5) remain undefeated in Sonoma County League play and alone in first place after defeated the visiting Greyhounds (4-3, 11-8).

Petaluma shut out Healdsburg's leading scorer, Hannah Webb, who averaged 15 points per game coming in.

“It is hard for us to win without Hannah's production. They put their best defender on her,” Healdsburg coach Steve Zichichi said. “Petaluma was definitely the better team tonight. They are bigger than we are.”

With Webb struggling against the Petaluma defense, the Trojans offense relied on scoring from Jaden Krist (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Sheriene Arikat (11 points).

“Krist had a really nice game and we struggled to stop her,” Zichichi said. “She was a force on the boards and defensively.”

Petaluma coach Jon Ratshin said his team was balanced on offense.

“We shared the ball. We had 18 field goals with 15 assists,” Ratshin said. “Whenever Petaluma and Healdsburg play, points are at a premium.”

The Greyhounds were led by Natascha Marsden (14 points) and Kim Rodgers (8 points) but the lack of points from Webb was the difference in Healdsburg's loss. Webb had 16 points in Petaluma's 40-36 overtime win at Healdsburg the first time the teams played.

“We played man defense the whole game,” Ratshin said. “Healdsburg has a big void when Webb doesn't score.”