The Springlake-Earth Wolverines’ varsity basketball team took down the Sudan Hornets on Thursday, 64-42, at the Whitharral Invitational.
Senior, Christian Montes, hit senior, Alex Conley, for a lay-up to open the contest, but sophomore, Evan DeLeon, answered with a three from the left wing off of the assist from Diego Sanchez, making the score, 3-2. Montes responded with a put-back off of his own miss, but Springlake-Earth came right back, as sophomore, Keshan Holmes and DeLeon dropped in back-to-back lay-ups to regain the lead for the Wolverines, 7-4.
With 5:13 to play in the opening quarter, Montes heaved an outlet pass down court to Michael Limon, who dropped it in for a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on sophomore, Kaden Castillo. He converted the free throw to tie the game, 7-7.
Holmes dropped in a lay-up, but on the other end Conley and senior, Josh Leal, took consecutive charges on Holmes. Sophomore, Trace Goodman, picked up a steal from Montes and got it ahead to DeLeon for a lay-up. He drew an and-one foul on Montes and converted the free throw to stretch their lead back out to, 12-7.
With under three minutes to play in the quarter, Montes buried a three from the left wing off of the assist from Limon, but Goodman knocked down a jumper from the left side off of the assist from Castillo and senior, Diego Sanchez, followed it up with a drive and dump off to Goodman, who finished the play with a lay-up, making the score, 16-10.
DeLeon buried a three from the right elbow with under one minute to play, and Sanchez was fouled on a put-back attempt by Montes with just over 10 seconds to play in the quarter. He sank both free throws, but in the closing seconds of the quarter, senior, Beto Mendoza sank a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Montes, trimming the Wolverines lead to, 21-13, to end the first quarter.
DeLeon scored back-to-back put-backs off misses by Sanchez to open the second quarter, as Sudan called a time out with 4:28 to play in the half to talk things over.
Out of the break, Montes scored a put-back off of his own miss, but DeLeon answered with a three from the left wing off of the assist from Holmes. Holmes followed it up with a spin to the basket, finishing with a jump hook in the lane, stretching their lead to, 30-15, with 1:34 remaining in the first half.
Mendoza took a charge on Sanchez, but the Wolverines responded with a lay-up from Holmes off of the assist from DeLeon and a transition lay-up from Sanchez to extend their lead to, 34-15. Limon scored a put-back off of the miss by Leal to end the half, with the Wolverines out in front, 34-17.
DeLeon opened the second half with a steal, taking it all the way to the basket for a fast-break lay-up. He followd it up with a three from the left wing off of the assist from Goodman, making the score, 39-17.
Conley got the Hornets on the board in the second half with a lay-up, but Holmes trailing the play on the break, scored a put-back off of a miss by DeLeon and Castillo, on their next possession drove and kicked it out to Sanchez for a three from the right wing, making the score, 44-19.
Montes dropped in back-to-back lay-ups for Sudan, but Holmes answered with a jump-hook shot in the lane, making the score, 46-23, with 3:40 to play in the third quarter.
Montes answered, driving the left baseline for a lay-up and followed it up with a reverse lay-up off of a steal, cutting the lead to, 46-27, as the Wolverines took a time out with 2:20 to play in the quarter.
Out of the break, Conley heaved an outlet pass to Montes, who dropped in a lay-up in transition, but the Wolverines answered, as Holmes scored a put-back off of the miss by Sanchez, making the score, 48-29.
With under one minute to play in the quarter, Castillo tipped a ball out to DeLeon for a three from the top of the key, but Montes found Leal with a bounce pass on the other end for a lay-up, making the score, 51-31.
Holmes dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Conley with 8.8 seconds to play in the quarter. He missed the free throw but Sanchez got the offensive rebound and knocked down a jumper in the lane to make the score, 55-31, as the third quarter came to a close.
DeLeon hit Holmes with a no-look inbound pass for a lay-up to open the fourth quarter, but Leal answered with a lay-up to trim the lead to, 57-33.
Sudan took a time out with 5:31 to play, and later in the quarter, Montes drove the right baseline for a lay-up off of the assist from Leal, making the score, 57-35.
With 3:36 remaining, Sanchez was fouled on an attempt by Leal; he hit both free throws and DeLeon followed it up with a three from the right wing off of the assist from Sanchez, stretching their lead to, 62-35.
Conley knocked down a three from left elbow, but Sanchez answered with a floater from the left side off of the assist from DeLeon, extending their lead to, 64-38.
Sudan called a time out with 1:33 to play, and out of the break, Montes buried a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Leal to cut the lead to, 64-41. Leal split a pair of free throws with under one minute to play, but the Hornets fell to the Wolverines, 64-42.
DeLeon led the Wolverines in scoring with 29 points and was joined in double-figures scoring by Holmes, who netted 20 points and Sanchez, who finished with 11 points. Goodman chipped in four points in the contest.
The Hornets were led by Montes, who netted 22 points, while Conley added seven points and Leal and Limon each finished with five points.