The Springlake-Earth Wolverines’ varsity basketball team fell short in their comeback efforts on Monday night, as they fell to the defending 1A State Champion Texline Tornadoes, 91-77, at Palo Duro High School, in the 1A Regional Quarterfinal round of the play-offs.
With the loss, the Wolverines close the season with a mark of 21-8 overall.
Texline opened the game on a, 6-0, scoring run that included a breakaway slam from William Luther, off of a steal from Kaden Castillo, that forced the Wolverines to take a time out with 6:29 remaining in the opening quarter. Out of the break, Castillo got the Wolverines on the board with a lay-up, but Taylor Crist answered with a lay-up in transition and Luther followed it up with a putback off of a miss by Stratton Potter, pushing their lead out to, 10-2.
Noel Lozano dropped in a layup, drawing an and-one foul on Keshan Holmes. He missed the free throw, extending their lead to, 12-2, with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter. Evan DeLeon dropped in a lay-up in transition and Holmes followed it up with a lay-up off of an assist from Castillo to cut the lead to, 12-6, with four minutes to go in the quarter.
Elias Espino knocked down a three from the left elbow, but DeLeon fired right back, driving the lane and dishing a no-look pass to Trace Goodman, who dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on the Tornadoes. He missed the free throw, leaving the score, 15-8. Kayden Drumm dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Angel Herrera, and followed it up with a three from the top of the key, off of the assist from Potter, pushing the Texline lead back out to, 20-8.
With 2:13 remaining in the quarter, Castillo knocked down a three from the right wing, off of the assist from Goodman, but on the other end, Luther answered with a reverse lay-up to make the score, 22-11. DeLeon drained a three from the left elbow, off of an assist from Castillo, but with under one minute to play in the quarter, Luther picked up a steal from Holmes and took it to the hoop for an easy lay-up, making the score, 24-14. DeLeon would take a charge on Drumm to close out the quarter with the Tornadoes up 10, going into quarter number two.
Lozano opened the second quarter with a three from the left elbow, but on the other end, Holmes was fouled on an attempt by Lozano. He made the first shot, but missed the second, however, JJ Jaramillo was there for the offensive rebound, as they reset the offense. Holmes would drop in a lay-up through contact from Luther to trim the lead to, 27-17, with 6:23 remaining in the half.
Lozano was fouled on an attempt by Holmes and split the free throws to make it an 11-point game, and Espino drained a three from the right wing, off of an assist from Luther to push their lead to, 31-17. Springlake-Earth took a time out with 5:34 remaining in the half, and out of the break, Lozano dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Luther to make the score, 33-17.
With under five minutes to play in the half, Potter picked up a steal and was fouled on an attempt by DeLeon. He converted both free throws to make the score, 35-17. Lozano dropped in a put-back off of his own miss, but DeLeon answered with a tear-drop in the lane in transition to trim the lead to, 37-19.
Luther countered with a deep three from the top of the key, but on the other end, DeLeon was fouled on back-to-back plays by Drumm. He split the free throws to cut the lead to 19 points, 40-21, and on their next possession, DeLeon was fouled on a threepoint attempt by Espino. This time, he converted all three attempts at the line to make the score, 40-24, with just under three minutes to play in the half.
DeLeon dropped in a lay-up through contact, drawing an andone foul on the play. He converted the free throw to cut the lead to, 13 points, but on the other end, Luther was fouled on an attempt by DeLeon to earn a trip to the line. He split the free throws, but was able to run down his own rebound with the score, 41-27.With just over two minutes to play in the half, Herrera was fouled on the floor by DeLeon, earning a onein-one opportunity at the line. He sank both free throws, making the score, 43-27.
Drumm took a charge on Castillo and Lozano capitalized on the turnover with a put-back off of his own miss, pushing their lead to, 45-27.
Texline scored a bucket off of a steal, but DeLeon was fouled on the floor on the next play, earning a pair of free throws at the line. He converted both shots, but Drumm dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Lozano to close out the first half with the Tornadoes in front, 49-29.
Texline opened the third quarter on a, 9-0, scoring run, before Castillo drained a three from the right elbow to cut the lead to, 61- 38, with 4:28 remaining in the third quarter. Goodman dropped in a lay-up in transition, off of the assist from Holmes, but Lozano answered with a lay-up on the other end, off of the inbound pass from
Herrera, making the score, 63-40.
Holmes dropped in a lay-up for the Wolverines, and Goodman followed it up with a lay-up, off of the assist from Holmes, before Castillo fouled out with 1:56 to play in the third quarter. DeLeon dropped in a bucket for the Wolverines, but Luther quickly answered, tossing the outlet pass down court to Drumm for a quick lay-up to make the score, 65-46, with under one minute to play in the quarter. The Wolverines responded with a bucket and in the closing seconds of the quarter, DeLeon blocked a shot by Luther, as Alex Alvarez took it down court for the lay-up at the buzzer to cut the lead to, 65-50, going into the final quarter of play.
Luther opened the fourth quarter with a lay-up for Texline, but on the other end, DeLeon was fouled on a deep three-point attempt by Herrera. He made all three attempts at the line to cut the lead to, 67-53. with 6:44 remaining, DeLeon was fouled on an attempt in transition by Herrera. He hit both attempts at the line to make it a 12-point game, 67-55.
Lozano spun to the basket for a lay-up, but DeLeon answered with a three from the left elbow to cut the lead to 11 points, as Texline took a time out with 6:23 left to play in the game. Out of the break, DeLeon bur
Out of the break, DeLeon buried a deep three from the righg elbow to cut the lead to single digits, 69-61, but Texline responded, as Lozano dropped in a put-back off of his own miss to make the score, 71-61, with 5:22 remaining in the contest. With under five minutes remaining, Lozano dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Holmes, who fouled out of the game. Lozano sank the free throw to push their lead to, 74-61.
DeLeon dropped in a lay-up through contact and followed it up with a three from the top of the key to cut the lead to eight points, 74-66. Josh Samaron took a charge on Lozano and DeLeon capitalized on the turnover, as he buried a three from the left elbow to make it a five-point game, 74-69.
The Wolverines took a time out with 3:34 remaining, and out of the break, DeLeon knocked down a runner from the right side to make it a three-point game, 74-71. With 3:13 remaining, Luther was fouled on the floor by DeLeon, earning a one-in-one opportunity at the line. He converted both free throws, but Goodman responded with a jumper from the free-throw line on the other end to make the score, 76-73.
With 2:30 remaining, Luther dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and one foul on the line. He converted the free throw, as Texline took a time out to talk things over, leading the Wolverines, 79-73. Out of the break, Jaramillo was fouled on a put-back attempt by Drumm; he converted both free throws as Springlake-Earth took a time out with 2:20 left to play in the game.
Out of the break, Drumm drained a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Luther to push their lead to, 82-75. With 1:06 remaining, Springlake-Earth was forced to start fouling, and the Tornadoes went seven-of-eight from the freethrow line to close out the game on a, 9-2, scoring run to take the Regional Quarterfinal match-up, 91-77.
DeLeon led the team in scoring with a game-high 41 points, while Castillo joined him in double-figures scoring with 12 points. Goodman and Holmes each tallied eight points, while Jaramillo added four points and Alvarez and Samaron each finished with two points in the contest.