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Clayton holds on late to shock Texico girls

TEXICO — Every basketball season comes to an end. The Texico girls basketball players were just hoping theirs didn’t end quite so soon.

The sixth-seeded Lady Wolverines sure fought hard to avoid that happening in Friday night’s state 2A first-round game against 11th-seeded Clayton at Texico Sports Arena. Despite falling into a deep, deep first-quarter hole, Texico battled back and actually had a chance to win the game in the final minute.

But key Texico turnovers in the waning seconds helped the Lady Yellowjackets prevail 41-37 in a game they had led by as many as 20 in the first half and still by 11 heading into the fourth quarter.

Clayton (16-13) moves on to play third-seeded Newcomb (25-4) at Rio Rancho’s Santa Ana Star Center in this Tuesday’s quarterfinal round.

And though Texico’s season included a first-place finish in District 7-2A and a second straight championship of the district tournament, that season has ended with a 13-11 record.

It was an injury-riddled campaign, but the Lady Wolverines still managed to defend their district title and reach the state tournament.

“We never really had everybody back until probably right after EPAC (the Eastern Plains Athletic Conference tournament) when we started our district season,” Texico head coach Richard Luscombe said. “These kids really stepped up, they did a great job. I’m extremely proud of them.”

The Lady Wolverines’ district season included two victories — 48-43 and 47-35 — over Clayton. But Friday’s state-tournament clash was quite different, as the Lady Yellowjackets had too much energy, shot too well and rebounded too well in the first half, building enough of a cushion to withstand a fourth-quarter Texico charge.

Clayton led from opening basket to final buzzer, and earned a spot in the state’s elite eight.

“We came in with a lot of confidence that we could do it,” Clayton head coach Justin Daugherty said. “We played a close game, and I’m just proud of my girls, the way they showed up.”

Showed up right from the opening tip. After winning it, the Lady Yellowjackets made good use of the possession, which ended when McKinlee Crisp buried a straightaway three.

After the Lady Wolverines traveled, Clayton headed upcourt for its next possession and ended that with Kaylee Mitchell’s short layup down the middle of the lane, making it a 5-0 game.

Following a Texico miss on the other end, Callie Bates completed the Lady Yellowjackets’ third possession with an inside turnaround hoop, stretching her team’s lead to seven.

With 6:20 still to play in the first, McKinlee Crisp ended a possession she had created with a steal by going 1-for-2 from the line and putting Clayton up 8-0.

Just under the first quarter’s six-minute mark, Ashley Hill gave Texico its first point with a free throw, but Clayton answered quickly on its ensuing possession with a Mandy Crisp trey that provided the night’s first double-digit margin, 11-1.

It was 13-1 after a Bates putback, 15-1 after Mitchell’s coast-to-coast layup, 18-1 when Mandy Crisp hit a right-corner three.

“They really came out and started well. I can’t believe how well they shot the ball,” Luscombe said. “They got after us in that first quarter. We were just unbelievably tight. One of the big differences was they have more kids who have been in that situation than we do, and their playmakers made plays in that first quarter. And we struggled.”

By quarter’s end, Clayton led 23-5. A Cara Drumm putback made it 25-5 early in the second quarter. Texico scored five straight — on a Hill free throw, a Rachel Phipps layup, and two Riley Rohrbach foul shots — narrowing the deficit to 15. But Clayton answered with five straight of its own — a fast-break layup by Preslie Poling, a short pull-up bank shot by Mitchell, and a Mitchell free throw on the Yellowjackets’ next possession — stretching Clayton’s lead to 30-10.

It was 30-14 at halftime, thanks to a running bank shot from Hill and short driving shot by Phipps, but by the end of the third quarter, Texico had only chiseled five more points off the margin, trailing 35-24.

On the positive side, Texico had been down 35-18 late in the third and had made it an 11-point game on a two-point basket from Rohrbach, a three-point play completed at the line by Hill, and a Hill foul shot a bit later. So the Lady Wolverines were on a roll to start the fourth, despite their still-substantial deficit.

It became a 12-0 Texico run after three Hill bank shots in the fourth quarter, and with roughly 4 1/2 minutes to go in the period, the Lady Wolverines only trailed 35-30.

Clayton was up 38-33 when Hill knocked down yet another bank shot, bringing her team within three.

And with just 54.6 seconds left, Melissa Lewallen was at the line and calmly sank a pair of free-throw attempts, drawing Texico within just a point, 38-37.

From 20 points down to a fighting chance at a state quarterfinal berth.

A foul was called at mid-court, sending Mitchell to the line in a one-and-one situation with 44.9 seconds remaining, but she missed the initial attempt and Rohrbach snared the rebound. Texico, however, wound up losing the ball out of bounds with 28.1 seconds remaining.

A foul sent McKinlee Crisp to the stripe with 22.6 seconds to play, and though she swished the first, her second attempt missed, so the Lady Yellowjackets’ lead was still only 39-37.

Rohrbach again ripped down a defensive rebound, but again Texico wound up losing the ball out of bounds, this time with 18.4 seconds left.

Five seconds later Mitchell was at the line, and she went 1-for-2, so it was still a one-possession game, 40-37.

But Texico’s next possession ended with a Hailey Holland steal just past mid-court, and after the ball came to McKinlee Crisp, she was fouled with 4.3 seconds left. When Crisp went 1-for-2 she had just about ended the game by putting her team up by four with so little time remaining.

It was official when McKinlee Crisp collected another steal.

Texico had made a go of it, led by Hill’s 26 points — 18 of which came in the second half.

Clayton, meanwhile, came away from Friday’s game pointed squarely toward the state quarterfinals, three wins away from a title.

“I think we’ve got a good shot,” Daugherty said. “I think bracket-wise we’re set up really well. In the district we play, Clayton, Texico and Pecos — and even Santa Rosa; I was surprised they didn’t make the tournament because they’re a tough team — I think we’re underrated and overlooked a little bit. We’re in such a competitive district, and I think we’re on a different level from some of these teams that have a 20-5 record, or something really good, but they haven’t been tested all year.”

 
 
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