The Sudan Nettes’ varsity basketball team won their non-district road match-up with the Muleshoe Lady Mules on Monday, 50-28, to improve to 5-11 overall on the season.
Junior, Addison Boehning, got the Nettes going with a lay-up off of the inbound pass from sophomore, Braelyn Pointer, to open the game, and sophomore, Gracyn Shultz, followed it up with a runner in the lane, pushing their lead to, 4-0, with 6:43 to play in the opening quarter.
With 6:14 remaining in the first quarter, Shultz hit junior, Liz Sital, in transition, as she drew a foul on the attempt on Grace Leal. Sital converted both free throws, as Muleshoe took a time out with 6:07 to play in the first quarter. Out of the break, Kristina Arzola dropped in a lay-up to get the Lady Mules on the board, but Sudan answered, as Shultz knocked down a jumper from the right elbow off of the assist from Sital, making the score, 8-2.
Leal responded with a three from the right wing for Muleshoe, but senior, Zoey Cantu, fired right back with a three from the left side for Sudan, making the score, 11-5, with 4:28 remaining in the quarter. Aaliyah Sanchez was fouled on a three-point attempt by Cantu and converted one-of-three shots at the line, trimming the lead to, 11-6.
Kayla Soto scored a put-back off of a miss by Natalie Ambriz to make it a three-point game, 11-8, to end the first quarter.
Shultz buried a three from the left wing off of the assist from Boehning to open the second quarter and two-possessions later, sophomore, Riley Edens scored a put-back off of the miss by sophomore, Stevi Lockhart, making the score, 16-8.
Ambriz responded with a jumper from the left wing, but Shultz answered right back with a lay-up off of the inbound pass from Pointer, making the score, 18-10, with 4:23 to play in the first half. With just over four minutes remaining, Ambriz drew a block on sophomore, Sydnie Cornelius, and converted both free throws to trim the lead to six points, 18-12.
On the Lady Mules next possession, Araceli Diaz was fouled on an attempt by Shultz; she split the attempts, but the Nettes responded with back-to-back buckets by Boehning and Lockhart to stretch their lead back out to, 22-13, with just under three minutes to play in the half.
With just over one minute remaining in the half, Ambriz was fouled on an attempt by Lockhart, who picked up her third foul of the game. Ambriz converted both free throws, but on the other end, Pointer was fouled in the closing seconds of the half by Carina Sianez and sank one-of-two shots at the line to make the score, 23-15, going into the locker room at halftime.
Shultz dropped in a lay-up on the right side to open the second half and followed it up with a three from the top of the key, pushing their lead out to, 28-15, but the Lady Mules dropped in a lay-up to stop the run, trimming the lead to, 28-17, with 6:44 to play in the third quarter.
Boehning was fouled on an attempt and sank both free throws to make it a 13-point game, 30-17. Pointer dropped in a lay-up with 6:27 to play in the quarter, drawing an and-one foul on Soto. She missed the free throw leaving the score, 32-17.
With 5:32 remaining, Ambriz was fouled on an attempt by Shultz; she split the free throws to cut the lead to 14 points, but on the other end, Edens, drained a three from the left elbow to push the Nettes’ lead back out to, 35-18. Boehning scored a put-back off of a miss by Edens in transition and the Lady Mules took a time out with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Out of the break, the Nettes forced a five-second call on the Lady Mules inbound play to earn an extra possession. Edens hit Sital on a cut to the basket for a lay-up, extending the lead to, 39-18, with 2:48 to play in the quarter. Hardwick missed a pair of free throws to close out the third quarter with the Nettes in front, 39-18.
Shultz was fouled on an attempt by Makayla Toscano; she made one-of-two shots to open the final quarter of play for Sudan. Boehning drove the right side of the lane for a lay-up to push the lead to 42-18, and on the following play, sophomore, Kambry Tolbert, was fouled on the floor by Kylie Hernandez. She split the free throws making the score, 43-18.
Ambriz spun to the basket for a Muleshoe bucket, and the Nettes took a time out with 5:39 to play to talk things over. Out of the break, Arzola drained a three from the right elbow, but Lockhart answered with a jumper in the lane off of the assist from sophomore, Elaine Martinez, making the score, 45-23.
With 3:41 remaining, Leal knocked down a step-back jumper from the left wing and Arzola sank another three from the right elbow to cut the lead to, 45-28. But, Edens knocked down a jump-hook in the lane off of the assist from Lockhart and Shultz followed it up with a three from the right wing off of the assist from Boehning, making the score, 50-28, to close out the game.
Shultz led the team in scoring with 17 points, to go along with three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Boehning chipped in a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, to go along with two assists and one steal.
Lockhart chipped in four points and five rebounds, while Sital contributed four points, four rebounds and two steals and Edens added four points and five rebounds. Cantu tallied three points and one steal, while Pointer contributed three rebounds, two points, two assists and one steal.
Tolbert chipped in one point and one rebound, while Cornelius added three rebounds and two steals, Martinez added four rebounds and three teals and Gonzales finished with one rebound in the contest.
The Nettes open district play on Jan. 5th at home against Seagraves. is slated for 6
Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.