BOYS BASKETBALL: SPRINGLAKE EARTH 69, MULESHOE 42

Derek Lopez

SUDAN CORRESPONDENT

The Springlake-Earth Wolverines came out on top on Saturday against Muleshoe, 69-42, for their first win of the season.

With the win, the Wolverines improve to1-1overall on the season.

Brennen Davis won the tipoff for the Mules, tipping it towards the Mules basket. Itwas caught by Irvin Torres, who took it to the hole for the first basket of the game for Muleshoe. The Wolverines answered, as junior Trace Goodman knocked down a jumper from the left elbow off of the assist from junior Evan DeLeon, tying the game at 2.

With just under six minutes to play in the opening quarter, junior Keshan Holmes was fouled on an attempt, earning a trip to the line. He split the free throws, making the score 3-2 as the Mules called for a timeout to talk things over.

Out of the break, Torres dropped in a layup for the Mules, drawing an andone foul on Holmes. He converted the free throw to finish off the 3-point play, givingMuleshoe a 5-3 advantage. The Wolverines called for a time out with 4:30 remaining in the opening quarter, and out of the break, Davis scored back-to-back buckets for the Mules, forcing the Wolverines to take another time out with 2:57 remaining in the first quarter while trailing the Mules, 9-3.

With 2:16 left to play in the quarter, Goodman picked up a steal and took it the other way for a fastbreak layup, trimming the lead to 9-5. Jacob Reyes answered with a layup for the Mules, but DeLeon countered with a three from the right elbow for Springlake-Earth, cutting the lead to 11-8.

With time winding down in the quarter, Torres drained a three from the left elbow to make it a 5-point Muleshoe lead at 14-8 heading into the second quarter.

Holmes dropped in a putback off of the miss by junior Kaden Castillo, drawing an and-one on the Mules to open the second quarter. The free throw was good from Holmes, making it a 3point game, 14-11.

Zach Hasley dropped in a layup for Muleshoe to get them on the board in the second quarter, but on the other end, Holmes was fouled again on an attempt, earning a trip to the line. He made the first and missed the second, but Castillo pulled down the offensive rebound as the Wolverines set it back up for another possession.

Sophomore Braxton Ethridge knocked down a jumper from the right wing off of the assist from DeLeon to make it a 3point game, 16-14. DeLeon and Holmes each split a pair of free throws to tie the game, 16-16, with just under four minutes to play in the half, and Castillo gave theWolverines the lead as he knocked down a jumper in the lane to make the score 18-16.

With 2:41 left to play in the first half, DeLeon dished a no-look pass to Castillo in transition, who dropped in a layup to push their lead to 20-16, as the Mules took a time out with 2:35 remaining in the half.

The Wolverines’ rally continued out of the break, as DeLeon dished a no-look pass to Goodman, who finished the play with a layup, making the score 22-16. DeLeon followed it up with a layup of his own to make it an 8-point lead for the Wolverines with just over a minute to play in the half.

With under 10 seconds remaining in the half, Holmes drained a three from the right elbow, but the Mules raced down the court and Torres buried a three of his own at the buzzer to cut the Wolverines’ lead to 6 points, 27-21, heading into the locker room at halftime.

Goodman was fouled on an attempt by Eliasar Cisneros to open the second half. Hemade both attempts at the line to stretch their lead to 8 points, 29-21. Doc Gardner

answered with a layup for the Mules, but Holmes responded with a layup on the other end, off of an assist from Castillo, to make the score 31-23.

Hasley scored on a putback, but Castillo came right back on the other end with a bucket for the Wolverines, pushing their lead to 33-25 with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter. The back-and-forth scoring continued, as Hasley knocked down a jump hook in the lane, but the Wolverines again answered, with Castillo dropping in a teardrop in the lane, making the score 35-27.

With 4:48 remaining in the quarter, Gardner dropped in a layup, but on the other end, Ethridge used a Eurostep to get to the basket for a layup, drawing a blocking foul on Hasley. He missed the free throw, but Holmes was able to grab the offensive rebound and knocked down a jumper from the right wing to stretch their lead to double-digits, 39-29.

Muleshoe took a time out with 4:17 to play in the quarter, and out of the break, Castillo picked up a steal and took it the other way for a fast-break layup, making the score 41-29. The Mules were able to pick up a turnover of their own, as Cisneros grabbed a steal and took it to the hoop for a fast-break layup. The Wolverines continued to roll on offense, as Castillo drewa shooting foul on Davis. He split the free throws to make the score 42-31 with 3:15 left to play in the quarter.

DeLeon drained a three from the left elbow and closed out the quarter with another three from the left elbow to make the score 48-31 heading into the final quarter of play.

Torres opened the fourth quarter with a three for theMules, but on the other end, Castillo dropped in a putback off of his own miss, drawing an and-one foul on Hasley. The free throw was no good, but Ethridge was there for the offensive rebound and putback, pushing their lead out to 52-34.

Castillo dropped in a teardrop from the right baseline off of the assist from DeLeon, but the Mules answered with a putback by Hasley, making the score 54-36 with 6:39 to play in the game. DeLeon sank another three from the left wing off of the assist from Castillo, but on the other end, Davis was fouled on an attempt by DeLeon. He missed both free throws, but Hasley was able to grab two offensive rebounds before dropping in the putback to trim the lead to 57-38.

The Mules took a time out with 4:59 left to play. Out of the break, DeLeon drained a three from the top of the key off of the assist from Castillo, making the score 60-38.

Hasley scored a putback for theMules, and Jacob Reyes scored a putback off of his own miss to trim the lead to 60-42 before DeLeon drilled another three from the right elbow off of the assist from Goodman, extending their lead to 63-42with 2:30 to play in the game.

Holmes split a pair of free throws, and DeLeon turned a steal into a layup for the Wolverines, making the score 66-42 with 1:33 to play in the game. Jaramillo buried a three from the left wing to close out the game, as the Wolverines took the contest 69- 42.

DeLeon led the team in scoring with a team-high 22 points, and he was joined in double-figures scoring by Castillo, who finished with 15 points and Holmes, who finished with 14 points. Goodman tallied 9 points, while Ethridge added 6 points. Jaramillo finished with 3 points.

Torres led the Mules in scoring with 14 points, and was joined in doublefigures by Hasley, who finished with 12 points. Gardner, Reyes and Davis each finished with 4 points, while Victor Velasquez finished with 2 points