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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Bulldogs open district with a bang (and a swish)

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Members of the Bulldog basketball team swarm teammate Ethan Duff at midcourt after Duff drained the game-winning three at the buzzer in overtime Friday against Lovington at Bulldog Pit. (Brienne Green - Daily Press)
Members of the Bulldog basketball team swarm teammate Ethan Duff at midcourt after Duff drained the game-winning three at the buzzer in overtime Friday against Lovington at Bulldog Pit. (Brienne Green – Daily Press)
Ethan Duff floats in a finger roll under pressure from Lovington’s Allijah Ballard during the first quarter Friday at Bulldog Pit. (Brienne Green - Daily Press)
Ethan Duff floats in a finger roll under pressure from Lovington’s Allijah Ballard during the first quarter Friday at Bulldog Pit. (Brienne Green – Daily Press)

After leading Lovington at the end of both the first and second quarters, the Bulldog basketball team began to fall behind in the third quarter Tuesday at Bulldog Pit in the face of a solid performance from the field by the boys in blue.

With Lovington in the midst of what would end up a near-50-percent shooting effort, the Wildcats found themselves holding their biggest lead of the night, 40-33, with just over a minute-and-a-half to go in the third. Their crowd was becoming raucous. The ‘Dogs had a choice: Curb that momentum or risk falling too far behind in the fourth.

With a shot in the paint by Carlos Carrasco and a Taylor Null tip-in on the offensive board, Artesia made it a one-shot game going into the final eight minutes, 40-37. Ethan Duff provided that shot as the fourth period began, knotting the game at 40-all.

From there, however, Lovington began to creep away again, going up 46-40 on a pair of baskets by Sebastian Sanchez and Kenny Oliver and two from the free-throw line by Aaron Lujan. Carlos Caldera dropped a longball but Gary Ornelas immediately answered – 49-43 with three minutes to go.

Caldera was unperturbed, draining another trey seconds later, and after forcing the ‘Cats into a backcourt turnover, Justin Houghtaling took a turn from beyond the arc to tie the game once more. An Ornelas miss and a Caldera breakaway layup in transition give the Bulldogs their first lead since midway through the third quarter and sent the Sea of Orange into a frenzy.

But the ‘Dogs were by no means out of the woods yet. With nearly all of their starters in foul trouble, Artesia was forced to allow Sergio Sanchez a virtually uncontested layup with 33 seconds on the clock to reinstate the deadlock. That gave Artesia a chance to end it in regulation. Their first attempt missed, but Houghtaling was there for the rebound with time. He was fouled on the shot, but no whistle was blown.

The first game of the second season was heading into overtime.

There, the Wildcats began to take control once again. Sebastian Sanchez followed a free throw with a jumper, and Caldera – one of Artesia’s key perimeter threats – fouled out of the game. The ‘Dogs missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Oliver added one from the stripe to make it 55-51 with 2:23 to go.

Tanner Harris made good on two from the line on a foul that sent Sebastian Sanchez out of the game, but it was answered by a wide-open Oliver layup off the baseball pass downcourt. Still down by four, 57-53, with under two minutes to go, Artesia was still seeking its first field goal of OT.

Carrasco would oblige in a big way, knocking down a trey to bring the ‘Dogs within one, 57-56. Lovington went 1-4 from the stripe as the contest fell under one minute, and with 32 seconds to go, Null put a dump pass from Houghtaling off the glass to tie things up.

Carrasco – another three-point threat – fouled out at the 23-second mark, and the Wildcats had a chance to take the lead. They missed both shots, however, and once again, the Bulldogs headed up the court with a chance to end it on one shot.

It ended up taking three, as two misses, one from outside the paint and one from in, were crucially rebounded, and the ball found its way into the hands of Duff. From NBA range, he let it go. The buzzer sounded. The Pit exploded – nothing but net.

“I was so pleased with the way our boys competed all night,” head coach Michael Mondragon said Saturday. “We came out, we played hard for four quarters. We would get down by six or seven points and just continue to fight.

“It was a great team win. Everybody we put in the game stepped up and made big plays. And that’s just district for you. It’s going to be a grind, but you just have to go out and play hard, and we did that for four quarters and made enough plays to win the game.”

The ‘Dogs got the district battle off to a good start Friday, taking a 6-0 lead on a pair of layups from Houghtaling and Caldera and a Carrasco jumper. A drive to the hoop by Duff and two from the stripe by Houghtaling made it 10-2 with 2:19 to go in the first, but Lovington posted the final six points of the quarter to pull within two going into the second, 10-8.

An offensive putback by Null and a Caldera three bumped the lead back to seven, but despite solid work in the paint by Null and Houghtaling, the ‘Cats began to chip away with help from eight points from the charity stripe. Lovington led by one with 28 seconds to go in the half, but a Joe Willingham bucket off the steal by Null made it 24-23 Artesia at intermission.

Three treys in the opening four-and-a-half minutes of the third helped the Wildcats retake the lead. Four points from Null and two each from Houghtaling and Carrasco kept the ‘Dogs within striking distance going into the thrilling finale.

“We knew we were in foul trouble going into the fourth and overtime, and that’s really what hurt us all night long,” Mondragon said. “We could never get up and get after them because we got a lot of early fouls, but we had guys that stepped in. Tanner Harris, Bruce Bates, Chaney Hardt, guys who haven’t gotten a whole lot of minutes for us came off the bench and did a great job.

“In overtime, we just said, ‘Hey, go play. Be aggressive, compete, and see what happens.’ And they did.”

Caldera led all scorers on the night with 14, followed by Houghtaling and Null with 12 and Duff with 10. Ornelas and Colby Vancleve posted nine each for the ‘Cats. Artesia shot 38 percent from the field on the night and 47 percent from the line, committing just nine turnovers.

“That was the best crowd I’ve seen at the Pit since I’ve been in Artesia as a head coach,” said Mondragon. “They helped us get that victory Friday night, and we want to thank everybody who came out. If we can put those kinds of crowds together on a consistent basis, it’ll be huge for us. The boys really thrive on that energy.

“Last night was a great step for our program, a great step in the direction we’re wanting to go, and hopefully we see that same kind of support when we’re back home in two weeks.”

The Bulldogs (9-9, 1-0) will now have just one day to prepare for a road trip to top-ranked Roswell High Tuesday, and Mondragon is looking to see another hard-fought performance from his athletes.

“The biggest thing for us with this district is protecting our home court,” said Mondragon. “We did that last night, and if we continue to do that, we’ll be fine. Now we just have to go with that same confidence and same aggressiveness into a tough one Tuesday.

“We’re playing the No. 1-ranked team in the state. But if we go out and compete for four quarters, I like our chances.”

 

Brienne Green
Daily Press Editor

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