The Springlake- Earth Wolverines’ varsity basketball team dropped their home season-opener on Tuesday to the Wildorado Mustangs, 70-37.
With the loss, the Wolverines fall to 0-1 to begin the year.
Hunter Corman opened the contest on a, 7-0, scoring run for Wildorado, and Riley McElroy kept it going with a floater on the baseline to stretch their lead to, 9-0, with 4:28 to play in the first quarter. Sebastian Sanchez would drain a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Donovan Stiggers to get the Wolverines on the board, trimming the lead to, 9-3.
With 3:18 to play in the quarter, Calvin Ivy was fouled on a put-back attempt by Stiggers; he sank both shots from the line, as Wildorado took a time out with 3:11 to play in the opening quarter, leading, 113. Out of the break, Robert Flores hit a cutting Kaylob Frietze for a lay-up to trim the lead to, 11-5, but on the other end, Corman was fouled on an attempt by Frietze, earning a trip to the line. He sank both free throws to push their lead back out to, 13-5.
Corman would score four consecutive points for the Mustangs, before Bryan Longoria was fouled in the closing seconds of the quarter by McElroy. He made one-of-two shots from the line, as the Mustangs took a, 17-6, lead into quarter number two.
Corman opened the second frame on a, 6-0, scoring run for the Mustangs, as Springlake-Earth took a time out to talk things over with 6:39 to play in the half. Out of the break, Nathan Ramos took a charge on McElroy, but Wildorado would regain possession, as Corman scored a put-back off of his own miss, extending the lead to, 25-6.
With 4:16 to play, Corman dropped in a lay-up on the left side for the Mustangs, but on the other end Edward Soto answered with a putback off of a miss by Ramos, making the score, 27- 8. Corman knocked down a jumper from the left elbow for the Mustangs, but Sanchez answered with a put-back off of his own miss, drawing an and one foul on Jacob Barnett, his second. Sanchez missed the free throw, leaving the score, 29-10. McElroy dropped in a second-chance lay-up for the Musatngs, but on the other end, Soto was fouled on a put-back attempt by Aidan Williams, his second. Soto made one- of- two shots from the line, trimming the lead to, 31-11. With just over two minutes to play, Frietze took a charge on Corman and on the offensive end, Frietze hit Soto for a lay-up, trimming the lead to, 13-31.
Corman scored a lay-up off of a steal and then followed it up with a fast-break lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Josiah Castillo, his second. Corman converted the free throw to make the score, 36-13, with just over one minute to play in the half. Sanchez was fouled on the floor by Williams, his third, earning a trip to the line. He made one-of-two shots from the foul line to make the score, 36-14.
McElroy dropped in a layup off of the assist from Corman to open the second half and Corman followed it up with back-to-back layups, stretching the lead to, 42- 14. Stryker Lanham knocked down a pull-up jumper in the lane and Corman followed it up with a three from the right elbow to stretch the Wildorado lead to, 47-14.
With 3:26 to play in the third quarter, Frietze was fouled on an attempt by Ivy. Frietze sank both free throws to make the score, 47-16. Corman split a pair of free throws after being fouled on an attempt by Flores, his third, but Frietze answered on the other end with a lay-up off of the assist from Longoria, trimming the lead to, 48-18.
Lanham took a charge on Frietze, his fourth, and Corman followed it up with a lay-up, extending their lead to, 50-18, with just over two minutes to go in the quarter. The Wolverines took a time out with 2:06 to play, and out of the break, Frietze dropped in a putback off of his own miss, drawing an and-one foul on Ivy. He converted the free throw, making the score, 5021.
Corman sank a pair of free throws for the Mustangs and he and McElroy scored back-to-back buckets off of steals, stretching the lead to, 56- 21, as Springlake-Earth took a time out with just under a minute to go in the quarter. With time winding down in the quarter, Sanchez dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Flores, making the score, 56-23, going into the final quarter of play.
Corman knocked down a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter for the Mustangs and Lanham sank a jumper from the right wing, but on the other end Stiggers knocked down a jumper from the right side to make the score, 60-25. Corman responded with a steal under their own basket for a lay-up and followed it up with a lay-up off of a turnover to push their lead to, 64-25.
Stiggers grabbed a steal and went coast-to-coast for a lay-up, trimming the lead to, 64-27, with 4:23 to play in the game. Frietze knocked down a short turnaround jumper from the elbow and Longoria followed it up with a lay-up to cut the lead to, 64-31, with just under three minutes to play. Frietze kept the scoring run going with a lay-up in transition off of the assist from Longoria, but Corman answered with a three from the right elbow, stretching the lead to, 67-33, with 1:40 to play.
Stiggers would drop in a lay-up for the Wolverines, but Lanham responded with a three from the left wing to stretch the lead to, 7035. Frietze would close out the contest with a put-back, as the Wolverines fell to the Mustangs, 70-37.
Frietze led the team in scoring with 15 points, while Sanchez tallied seven points and Stiggers finished with six points. Soto added five points and Longoria tallied three points in the contest.