Amherst falls to Jayton in area round

The Amherst Bulldogs’ varsity basketball team had their season come to an end on Friday at Lubbock- Cooper High School, as they fell to the Jayton Jaybirds, 78-21, in the 1A Area round of the basketball play-offs. Jayton opened the contest on an, 11-0, scoring run, before Joel Garcia knocked down a three from the left corner to get the Bulldogs on the board, trailing, 11-3, with 2:28 to play in the first quarter. Gabriel Garcia was fouled on a three- point attempt by Ben Blankenship with under a minute to play in the quarter. He made the first shot, missed the second and was called for a lane violation on the third attempt, leaving the score, 11-4.

Nathaniel Williams split a pair of free throws for the Jaybirds and Sean Stanaland dropped in a layup to close out the first quarter for Jayton with the Jaybirds in front, 14-3.

Joel Garcia was called for a charge to open the second frame and the Jaybirds capitalized on the turnover, as Williams drove through traffic finishing with a finger roll lay-up at the rim. He followed it up with a three from the right elbow to stretch their lead to, 21-6, with 4:48 to play in the first half. Williams drove to the basket for another lay-up and Griff Reel picked up a steal in their own end and took it to the hoop for a quick lay-up, pushing their lead to, 25-6.

Isaac Herrera was called for a charge, as Head Coach Daniel Hinojosa took a time out to talk things over with his team. Out of the break, Ayden Salazar drained a three from the right elbow and then split a pair of free throws to extend their lead to, 29-6, with just under three minutes to play in the half. Jayton took a time out with 2:54 remaining in the half, and out of the break, Joel Garcia was fouled on an attempt by Williams. He converted both free throws to trim the lead to, 29-8.

With just over one minute remaining in the half, Gabriel Garcia picked up a steal and drew a blocking foul on Reel to earn a trip to the free-throw line. He split the attempts at the line, but Williams answered with a lay- up and Stanaland banked in a buzzerbeating three from the top of the key to push their lead to, 34-9, going into the locker room at halftime.

Williams opened the third quarter with a lay-up on the left side, but Herrera answered with a layup off of the assist from Hector Perez to make the score, 36-11. Jayton went on a, 15-0, scoring run, before Joel Garcia dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Perez to make the score, 51-13. Justin Collins drained a three from the left elbow and Ayden Salazar dropped in a lay-up in transition to close out the quarter with Jayton out in front, 56-13.

The Jaybirds continued their offensive barrage in the fourth quarter, opening the final frame on a, 13-0, scoring run, before Herrera drained a three from the right wing off of the assist from Perez, making the score, 67- 16. Ethan Pendergast knocked down a three from the top of the key and Cody Redding was fouled on an attempt by Perez; he made the first and missed the second, but the Jaybirds dropped in the put-back to extend their lead to, 73-16, with just over two minutes to play in the contest.

Kevin Garcia dropped in a putback off of a miss by Herrera, but Jayton answered with a put-back and Redding followed it up with a three from the top of the key to make the score, 78-18. Joel Garcia closed out the game with a three from the right elbow for Amherst, as the Bulldogs fell to Jayton, 7821.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Joel Garcia, who tallied 12 points. Herrera chipped in five points, while Kevin Garcia and Gabriel Garcia each finished with two points in the contest.