The Sudan Nettes’ varsity basketball team took down the Springlake-Earth Lady Wolverines on Thursday in their Whitharral Invitational opener, 60-34.
Freshman, Gracyn Shultz, opened the game with back-to-back threes from the right wing off of assists from sophomore, Liz Sital, and senior, Payton Tolbert, giving the Nettes a, 6-0, lead as the Lady Wolverines called a time out to talk things over with 5:46 remaining in the opening quarter.
Out of the break, Shultz buried another three from the left elbow off of the assist from Sital, extending their lead to, 9-0. Tolbert was fouled on their next possession by freshman, Halee Toscano; she split the free throws to make it a, 10-0, scoring run for the Nettes, with just over five minutes to play in the first quarter.
Senior, Lyndsi Mendoza, knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line to get the Lady Wolverines on the board and Sudan called a time out with 3:14 remaining in the quarter, leading the contest, 10-2.
Out of the break, freshman, Braelyn Pointer, dropped in a lay-up off of the inbound pass from Sital, pushing their lead to, 12-2, with just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Toscano knocked down a deep two from the right elbow off of the assist from Mendoza and sophomore, Sayler Beerwinkle dropped in a lay-up off of the inbound pass from freshman, Kani Holmes, trimming the lead to, 12-6. But, Shultz answered for the Nettes, dropping in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on sophomore Micky Fuentes. She converted the free throw, pushing their lead back out to, 15-6.
in the closing seconds Sital picked up a steal and got it ahead to Shultz for a lay-up, as the Nettes closed out the first quarter in front of the Lady Wolverines, 17-6.
Freshman, Stevi Lockhart, knocked down a short jumper from the left side off of the assist from Pointer to open the second quarter, but Mendoza answered with a three from the left wing for Springlake-Earth, cutting the lead to, 19-9. Sudan would respond, as Pointer dropped in a lay-up off of a steal and Shultz scored a lay-up off of an assist from junior, Zoey Cantu, stretching their lead to, 23-9, with 4:44 to play in the first half.
Cantu and Beerwinkle exchanged lay-ups and With 2:58 to play in the half, Cantu dropped in a lay-up and drew an and-one foul on Mendoza. The free throw was no good, leaving the score, 27-11.
Sudan stayed on the offensive, as Cantu drove the lane for a lay-up to extend their lead to, 29-11. Tolbert took a charge on Beerwinkle with just over two minutes to play in the half, and out of the break, sophomore, Heidi Pinion, drove to the basket for a lay-up, stretching the Sudan lead to, 31-11.
Beerwinkle found sophomore, Mahalia Delgado, for a lay-up, but senior, Callan Netherland, closed out the first half with a three from the left elbow for Sudan, making the score, 34-13, going into the locker room at halftime.
Lockhart opened the third quarter with a jumper from the left elbow, but Toscano answered with a put-back off of the miss by Beerwinkle, trimming the lead to, 36-15. Tolbert and Lockhart scored back-to-back lay-ups for the Nettes, but Toscano answered with a lay-up of her own for the Lady Wolverines, as they called a time out with 4:05 remaining in the quarter.
Out of the break, Pointer scored a put-back off of the miss by Shultz, but on the other end, Beerwinkle dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Pointer. She converted the free throw to finish the three-point play, making the score, 42-20, with 2:24 to play in the third quarter.
Toscano knocked down a three from the right wing off of the assist from Holmes, but Pointer answered with a three from the left elbow for Sudan, off of the assist from senior Kamryn Goen, making the score, 45-23. With time winding down in the quarter, sophomore, Ariana Manzanales, knocked down a short jumper from the left wing off of the assist from Beerwinkle, trimming the lead to, 45-25, as the third quarter came to a close.
Lockhart hit Cantu for an easy lay-up to open the fourth quarter and she followed it up with a drive to the basket for a lay-up to extend their lead to, 49-25. With 6:19 remaining, Lockart used a Tolbert screen on Holmes to get to the basket for a lay-up to push their lead to, 51-25.
Lockhart was fouled on an attempt by Holmes and split the free throws, making the score, 52-25. Beerwinkle got the Lady Wolverines on the board in the fourth quarter with a lay-up off of the assist from Delgado, but the Nettes answered with back-to-back lay-ups from Lockhart and Cantu to extend their lead to, 56-27, with just under five minutes remaining in the contest.
Beerwinkle dropped in a lay-up for Springlake-Earth and on their next possession, she was fouled on a put-back attempt by Tolbert, who fouled out of the contest. Beerwinkle made the first attempt, but missed the second, however she was able to gather her own rebound, but the Lady Wolverines were unable to capitalize on the extra possession.
Sudan took a time out with 2:55 remaining and out of the break, Toscano drove to the basket for a lay-up, trimming the lead to, 56-32. Cantu hit Pinion in transition for a lay-up on the two-on-one break, but on the other end, Mendoza got the ball down low to Toscano, who was fouled on an attempt by senior, Milly Medrano. She converted both free throws to make the score, 58-34.
Goen dropped in a lay-up with under one minute to play, as the Nettes closed out the Lady Wolverines, 60-34.
Shultz led the Nettes in scoring with 16 points and she was joined in double figures scoring by Lockhart, who netted 13 points and Cantu, who finished with 10 points. Pointer chipped in nine points, while Netherland added five points and Pinion finished with four points.
Goen tallied two points and Tolbert finished with one point in the contest.
The Lady Wolverines were led by Toscano, who netted 13 points and Beerwinkle, who tallied 12 points. Mendoza chipped in five points, while Delgado and Manzanales each finished with two points.