CLOUDCROFT — It was a wild finish to the Cloudcroft High School girls’ basketball teams District 3-2A opener on Tuesday night versus the Mesilla Valley SonBlazers.
Trailing in the second half, the Cloudcroft Bears (7-9, 1-0) pulled off the unthinkable by defeating Mesilla Valley (5-6, 0-1) 46-44.
The Bears led the entire first half before turnovers changed the momentum of the game. Mesilla Valley was without one of their top scorers — junior Annika Conn — in the second quarter as she exited with an ankle injury and then she returned in the second half.
It’s usually textbook, but when Cloudcroft falls behind they have a hard time coming back. That was obviously not the case in this situation. They dug deep and found a way to win.
“It’s definitely a wild one. When that Conn girl went out with her ankle I thought, ‘Well, now we’re in pretty good shape,’” Cloudcroft head coach Tommy Mulkey said. “She’s just a phenomenal athlete anyway. She comes back second half with a hurt foot and really gave us fits.
“We couldn’t keep her in front of us. She’s so fast, but we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well anywhere, not from the free throw line. Kaylee (Hickman) was off tonight. Mariah (Barnett) I think hit one three. We gutted it out. I told the girls just now, especially that older bunch, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them come back and win anything since I’ve been here. Usually we get down and stay down.”
There wasn’t much scoring to start the game. Both teams were deadlocked at 6-6.
Cloudcroft could’ve led by a sizable margin, but they went zero-for-six from the free throw line in the first quarter.
Mesilla Valley was outscored, 12-9, in the second frame. The Bears got a pair of three-pointers from sophomore Mariah Barnett and freshman Ajia Hughes.
Senior Marisol Paulik also stepped up on the defensive end by getting some steals and converting them into points.
Despite shooting zero-for-eight from the charity stripe in the first half, Cloudcroft held a 18-15 lead at halftime.
Then, in the second half, Cloudcroft reverted to their old selves by turning over the ball. The SonBlazers outscored the Bears, 16-12, in the third frame to take a 31-30 lead.
Conn came back into the game and tallied six points in the third quarter. Mesilla also went eight-for-12 from the free throw line in the third frame to help gain the lead.
With 2:02 left in the fourth quarter, Mesilla led 43-40.
Cloudcroft freshman Kaylee Hickman then got fouled as she made a layup. The basket counted and she made her one free throw to tie the game, 43-43, with 1:56 left on the clock.
Junior Kaitlyn Bowman was fouled. She went to the line and made one of two free throws to put the Bears up, 44-43, with 33.1 seconds to go.
Up to this point, Cloudcroft had gone two-for-14 from the charity stripe. In the fourth quarter, they finally made their free throws when it mattered the most.
The Bears went eight-for-14 in the final frame. The eight points made at the free throw line were clearly the difference.
Sophomore Britney Hickman led the Bears with eight points, while her sister Kaylee Hickman tallied seven points.
Hughes and junior Laci Toddy each finished with six points. Barnett, Paulik and seniors Diana Cook and Nina Renteria each tallied four points.
The Bears finished 10-for-28 from the free throw line.
Conn led the SonBlazers with 15 points. Sophomore Lauren Ikard chipped in with 14 points, while junior Makaela Velarde had 11 points.
Mesilla Valley shot 15-for-24 from the charity stripe.
Cloudcroft had not won their district opener since the 2012-2013 season. The Bears last district win came on Feb. 12, 2016.
Of course, District 3-2A contains two top 10 teams in Lordsburg and Mescalero Apache. Right now, Lordsburg is the odds-on favorite to repeat as district champs until Mescalero can prove otherwise that they can finally win a district tourney outright.
“Defense did it. Marisol Paulik stepped in and got some steals and put backs, and that sparked us,” Mulkey said. “At the end, I kind of pulled that press because No. 11 was running around us, but at the end of the day that’s what saved us was the press.
“I don’t know when we were 1-0 in district in this program. We weren’t 1-0 last year, and so it’s great. The girls are excited. We’re gonna need a lot of momentum going into Lordsburg on Friday. Lordsburg is just playing lights out right now and it’s gonna take everything we got to beat them. It’s a great way to start district play — 1-0.”
UP NEXT: Cloudcroft hosts Lordsburg at 4:30 pm. Friday.
Mesilla Valley boys streak past Cloudcroft, 76-40
It was going to be a tall task for the Cloudcroft Bears to try and upset a tall, physical and athletic Mesilla Valley Christian SonBlazer squad Tuesday night.
No. 2-ranked Mesilla Valley (12-2, 1-0) defeated Cloudcroft (3-14, 1-0) 76-40.
The first half wasn’t as bad as most had expected. Cloudcroft played tough before the game got out of hand in the second half.
“The first half was a lot better than the second half,” Cloudcroft head coach Billy Head said. “There was a lot of things that could’ve been improved for that first half — their hustle for sure, but it was a lot better than the second half with their hustle.”
Mesilla Valley held an 18-10 lead in the first quarter. The Eldridge brothers — sophomores Dylan and Dewell — scored all of Cloudcroft’s points in the first frame.
Dylan Eldridge had seven points, while Dewell made a three-pointer.
The SonBlazers then outscored Cloudcroft, 18-12, in the second quarter to extend their lead to 14 points at the break.
Mesilla senior Hunter Conn dropped 13 points in the second frame.
In the third quarter, the game got way out of reach for the Bears. Mesilla tallied 27 points in the third frame, while they held Cloudcroft to just five points.
Conn tallied 11 points in the third quarter.
Up by 36 points and a running clock speeding up the game, the SonBlazers cleared their bench and took their foot off the accelerator.
It was a track meet in the second half, and the Bears couldn’t keep up.
Cloudcroft sophomore Marshall Virden had 18 points. He tallied 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Dylan Eldridge and Eamello both tallied seven points.
The Bears went five-for-eight from the charity stripe, while they made four three-pointers.
Conn led all scorers with 27 points. Junior Josh Castillo chipped in with 15 points, while sophomore Noah Nunley added with 12 points.
Scoring wasn’t abundant for Cloudcroft when they attended the John Reid Dexter Invitational last week. They averaged around 18 points in three games at the tourney.
The Bears were without Virden last week.
“We had Marshall back this game. He was out for several games and so it’s good to have him back,” Head said. “So, I think we can really start to bring it again.
“Just got to work them as a team and get them to keep their cool. I think for them it’s to work as a team and watch what’s going on. Part of it is they got lazy tonight and they can’t do that.”
UP NEXT: Cloudcroft hosts Lordsburg at 6 p.m. Friday.