Lady Bulldogs head to sectionals

The Douglas Lady Bulldogs basketball team closed out the regular season last week winning just one of three games.

Despite the one win, two loss effort the Lady Bulldogs have qualified for the upcoming sectional tournament and still have a chance at qualifying for state.

The Lady Bulldogs, 19-6, the seven seed in sectionals, played two seed Flowing Wells at Canyon Del Oro High School last night. The winner plays the winner of the Queen Creek vs. Maricopa game Thursday at 5:45 at Amphi. The sectional finals take place Saturday also at Amphi.

State begins Feb. 13 at a location to be revealed following the sectional finals.

The Lady Bulldogs began last week falling to Buena 65-16.

The Lady Colts had a slim 9-6 lead at the end of the first quarter but blew the game open in the second with a 23-4 run taking a 32-10 lead at the half.

In the second half the game went to a running clock because of the lopsided score which saw Buena outscore Douglas 33-6.

Douglas had 34 turnovers this game and the game was by far the worst performance “we ever had” Coach Clint Hill said afterwards. “Hopefully we will never see that again.”

Karina Avechuco led Douglas in scoring with eight points. Vanessa Ovando followed with four and Nancy Rodriguez and Veronica Barraza each contributed two.

On Thursday, Jan. 31 the Lady Bulldogs beat Rio Rico 54-47.

Douglas led 12-5 at the end of the first quarter and 26-23 at the half. The Lady Hawks led 38-36 heading into the fourth where the Lady Bulldogs outscored their guests 18-9.

“A win is a win,” Coach Hill said. “The girls played well enough to win but not like they are capable of.”

Avechuco led Douglas with 19 points this game. Barraza followed with 13 and Sofia Pena and Aleen Nunez each had six.

Friday was Mom and Dad’s night for the DHS seniors on the team. Unfortunately it was not a good night for Douglas who got thumped for the second time in three games losing to Cienega 51-27.

Cienega led 11-3 at the end of the first quarter and 25-11 at the half. Douglas actually scored in double digits in the third only to be outscored 12-4 by Cienega in the fourth.

Avechuco led Douglas in scoring with 10 points. Vanessa Ovando and Janella Frantzeskakis each followed with five.

Cienega was 18 for 25 from the free throw line while Douglas was four for six.

“Once agian we had a hard time finding a basket even from the stripe,” Coach Hill said afterwards. “Against Buena we shot no free throws. These teams really know how to play foul free basketball. We need to work more on our defensive game.”

The seniors who were honored at halftime were Laura Hurtado, Danae Meza, Karina Avechuco, Janella Frantzeskakis, Marisa Aguirre, Aleen Nunez and managers Jesus Bustamante and Victor Rojas.

Junior varsity

Douglas’ junior varsity closed out its season last week. Scores from the last few games are as follows:

Empire 38, Douglas 16: Jessica Quinonez four points, four rebounds; Britney Zuniga four points, five rebounds, Susan Resendiz two points, two rebounds, three assists, two steals; Vanessa Moreno two points, three rebounds; Johanna Jimenez two points, three rebounds and Ruby Valencia and Esmeralda Moreno each had one point.

Cienega 40, Douglas 19: Quinonez eight points, five rebounds, two steals; Crystal Zamora four points, four assists, two steals; Zuniga four points, three rebounds; Jennifer Alvidrez two points and Cecy Gonzalez one point, four rebounds.

Douglas 37, Bisbee 12: Zamora 18 points, four assists, five steals, two rebounds; Leeza Mathappene five points, five rebounds; Jimenez three points, three rebounds; Caroline Curiel, Resendiz, Esmeralda Moreno, Amanda Rodriguez and Gonzalez each had two points; Britney Zuniga one point, four rebounds.

Douglas 40, Benson 28: Zamora 14 points, six assists, three steals, three rebounds; Quinonez nine points, two steals, two assists, four rebounds; Mathapene four points, six rebounds; Zuniga four points, five rebounds; Valencia, Resendiz, and Jimenez each had two points; Curiel one point.

Douglas 33, Tombstone 19: Zamora 13 points, two steals. four assists, two rebounds; Quinonez seven points, two steals, two assists, four rebounds; Moreno seven points, two steals; Zuniga six points, two steals, four rebounds.