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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Turnovers dig inescapable hole for Lady ‘Dogs in first half vs. Roswell

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Stacia Martinez puts up a shot during the first half Tuesday at Roswell High. (Brienne Green - Daily Press)
Stacia Martinez puts up a shot during the first half Tuesday at Roswell High. (Brienne Green – Daily Press)

Once the bleeding started for the Lady Bulldog basketball team Tuesday at Roswell High, it was difficult to stem the flow.

Struggling mightily against full-court pressure from the Lady Coyotes, the Artesia girls committed turnover after turnover in the first quarter, and Roswell capitalized on nearly every one.

With 19 of their game-total 23 lost balls coming in the opening half and 20 of the Coyotes’ points coming as a direct result, the Lady ‘Dogs found themselves down by 26 going into the second quarter and 39 at the half.

And although Artesia outscored Roswell in the final quarters of play, there was no overcoming that wide a margin.

“We just took it on the chin in the first quarter,” Lady Bulldog head coach Jeff Houghtaling said today. “We got on our heels early. Their pressure hurt us pretty bad, and they were able to create quite a gap.

“They’re a good team, and we knew that going in, but I think we were a little shocked by their length and their speed.”

With the turnovers significantly limiting their offensive opportunities, the Lady ‘Dogs were able to land just one field goal out of 10 attempts in the opening eight minutes, that coming on a jumper by Alissa Wagner two minutes in. A Tori Collins free throw late in the quarter made it 29-3 Roswell heading into the second.

Lady Coyote leading scorers Jaedyn De La Cerda and Gali Sanchez continued to take advantage of Artesia miscues as the first half continued, but the Lady Bulldogs were able to settle in a bit from the field, particularly behind the arc.

Alexa Riggs drained a pair of three-pointers and Wagner one in the period, which, combined with a bucket apiece from Shyann Spence and Wagner, made it 56-17 at the break.

“I think we did a much better job over the next three quarters of competing and playing hard,” Houghtaling said. “We were able to score in double figures in each of those quarters, which is something we’ve been wanting to get better at.

“The girls kind of snapped out of it a little bit and became a little more aggressive on the offense end. We did a better job of going to the basket, especially in the second half, and we had a good night from the foul line, which is another area we’ve really been working on.”

The Lady Bulldogs were clearly calmer as the third quarter commenced, but with the 35-point mercy-rule clock in motion, their time to take advantage of it was severely limited.

Gracie Puentes and Paityn Houghtaling posted jumpers in the third, with the latter going 4-4 from the stripe and Wagner hitting both ends of a one-and-one to help Artesia outscore the Lady Coyotes 10-8, and following Houghtaling and Mia Oliver baskets to start the fourth and a trey by Kyrah Gonzales, Artesia was able to shut off the clock with four minutes remaining in the game.

Laci Taylor hit a three and Collins an offensive putback in the final minutes to round out the final.

“I know they didn’t have their starters in the game the whole fourth quarter, but if we play a little better first, then certainly that’s a lot more competitive game than it was,” said Coach Houghtaling. “There were a lot of bright spots for us. The score obviously wasn’t one of them, but beyond that, we had some girls play probably their best games of the season.

“We had some kids come off the bench and really step up, which I was proud of, and I felt like we played a lot more aggressively on both ends of the floor, which was very encouraging.”

Wagner finished with nine points for Artesia, followed by Houghtaling with eight and Riggs with six. De La Cerda led all scorers with 26 and Sanchez added 18.

The Lady Bulldogs (5-16, 0-2) will now turn their focus to another road challenge Friday against Goddard at Ground Zero. The Lady Rockets are 9-12 on the season and also 0-2 in District 4-AAAAA play following a 42-31 loss to Roswell High Jan. 29 and a 43-40 loss to Lovington Tuesday.

“We’re going to keep battling,” said Houghtaling. “Goddard is no doubt going to be another formidable opponent for us, but I don’t feel like we’ve played any game this season where we’ve had four really good quarters. If we can come out and put four quarters together, I think we’d be surprised what we can accomplish.

“It’s going to be tough at their place, but if the kids will pull together and if we figure out the recipe and get the right ingredients in there – get in the right sub rotation, take care of the ball, hit some shots – I think we have a chance. Our goal is to get two or three wins out of our last four games and give ourselves a chance to earn a home game in the district tournament.”

The Lady ‘Dogs will tip off at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Goddard.

“I sure thought we had a great crowd last night,” said Houghtaling. “I’m sorry they had to watch that first quarter, but they were fantastic, and we’re very appreciative of all the fans who came up and supported the girls.

“It helps these girls get over a lot of rough spots when we have a big crowd behind us, so we want to encourage all the fans to get out to Goddard Friday and support the boys and girls.”

Brienne Green
Daily Press Editor

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