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By Nolberto Waddell
The Globe High School Tiger basketball teams came to Lobo Gym on Thursday, Jan. 26, for thee games and went home with three wins over the Lobo teams.
The JV teams for the schools were on the court first and both teams put on a clinic on three point shooting. The Lobo JV hitting for four three-pointers took a one point 23 to 22 lead at the end of the first quarter. It would be as close as the game would be.
In the second quarter, the Lobo JV lost their shooting touch only able to get three second quarter points while the Tiger JV hit for 16 to take a 26 to 38 lead into the first half break. The Lobos picked it up a little in the third quarter but the Tigers turned it on a lot higher hitting six three pointers to put the game out of reach for the Lobo JV. The score at the end of three quarters had the Tiger JV ahead 64 to 37 and on their way to a lopsided 76 to 46 win over the Lobo JV.
Matthew Martinez led Lobo JV scoring with 16 points followed by Rodney Ortiz and Gabriel Ramos with nine points apiece. Aaron Lagunas had six points, Jacob Lopez hit for five points and Steven Butler rounded out Lobo scoring with one free shot.
The Lady Lobos were on the court next, taking on the Lady Tigers in a close basketball game for three quarters of play. It seemed like it would be a run away for the Lady Tigers after one quarter of play when the Lady Lobos could just not get the basketball to go into the basket. The Lady Lobos played hard on both ends of the court but the Lady Tigers had a 10 to 2 lead over the Lady Lobos when the quarter ended.
The tables turned on the Lady Tigers in the second period. Melissa Islava hit for three three-pointers and the defensive pressure of the Lobos held the Tigers to three second quarter points as the Lady Lobos fought back to take a one point 14 to 13 lead at the first half break. Both teams played to a draw in the third quarter with eight points apiece from the teams as the Lobos protected their one point lead 22 to 21 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Lobos again lost their shooting touch in the fourth period hitting for only six fourth quarter points and their aggressive play sent the Lady Tigers to the charity line five times for nine free shots to give the Lady Tigers a hard fought 34 to 28 win over the Lady Lobos.
Melissa Islava led Lady Lobo scoring with 17 points. The usually high scoring Demitria Boltarez and Yvonnah Gonzales had trouble finding their shooting touch and finished with six points and two points respectively. Devin Estrada scored three points.
The boys’ varsity teams were on the court for the third game of the night and the Lobos just had no answer for the fast, quick and high intensity play of the Tiger guards. The first quarter of play was close but when Adrian Ochoa picked up his third foul mid-way of the first quarter causing the Lobos to lose his big defensive plays on drives by the Tiger guards, the Tigers started to pull away. The absence of Ochoa and the Lobos returning to their old tactics of turning the basketball over on bad passing was too much as the Tigers took a 16 to 10 lead after a quarter of play.
With Ochoa on the bench with his fourth foul in the second quarter and the continuance of bad passing by the Lobos paved the way for the Tigers to take a 15 point 36 to 21 lead at the end of the first half of play. Both teams played even in the third quarter with each scoring 10 points but with Ochoa getting hit with his fifth foul and Julian Gomez also getting into foul trouble in the third quarter it opened the door for the aggressive play of the Tiger offense. And the Tigers took advantage in the fourth quarter outscoring the Lobos 18 to 7 in the fourth quarter to hand the Lobos a 64 to 38 loss.
The Lobos played a very sloppy game turning the basketball over numerous times and for some reason could never get their scoring touch from outside to click in. The loss hurt the Lobos in the power point game but with three tough games left in this week of play the Lobos still have a slight chance to reach the playoffs. In the scoring column, Julian Gomez led the Lobos with 17 points followed by Roman Padilla with nine points, Adrian Ochoa with eight points and Matthew Manriquez with four points.
The Lobos have three home games left on the schedule with the Vandals of Miami High School having played on Tuesday, Jan. 31. The Superior High School Panthers will be in Lobo Gym on Thursday, Feb. 2, for three games with the San Carlos High School Braves on the Lobo court for three games on Friday, Feb. 3. The Lobo basketball teams and cheer leaders will honor their parents on Friday, Feb. 3, with Parents’ Night festivities between the girls’ and the boys’ varsity game. Come out and support the Lobo basketball players as they try to battle their way into the playoffs. Games start at 4 p.m. with the JV teams on the court first followed by the Lady Lobos at 5:30 p.m. The Lobos varsity boy’s games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
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