Up by 10 at the half against Class 5A county rival Carlsbad, the Lady Bulldog basketball team knew it had a good thing going.
After trailing by a point at the end of the first quarter, the Lady ‘Dogs had outscored the Cavegirls 21-10 in the second to lead 27-17 at the break. All that was left was to ensure there were no second-half letdowns.
The girls in orange passed that test with flying colors, limiting their turnovers, continuing to utilize both their perimeter and paint offense, and holding Carlsbad to single-digit scoring in the final quarters to come away with a big 51-30 win in Round One of the 2023-24 Eddy County War series.
It was the Lady Bulldogs’ first win over the Cavegirls since the 2012-13 season, when they defeated Carlsbad 32-27 at Bulldog Pit, and their first win at The Cave since 2009-10, when they edged Carlsbad by seven on the road, 43-36.
“We were real excited about it,” head coach Jeff Houghtaling said Wednesday. “It’s been a while since we beat those guys, so it was really good for us to win that one. I thought the girls played hard and kept their turnovers down. We shot the ball well and made enough free throws, so I thought we executed pretty well overall.”
The opening eight minutes were low-scoring ones for both squads, with turnovers interrupting any offensive rhythm.
Sophomore Jenna Whitmire put Artesia on top with a three to kick off the contest, but though Carlsbad wouldn’t get on the board until around the five-minute mark, back-to-back baskets by Abbey Dugan and Jasmynn Gonzales put them up by one.
A Samantha Oliver trey expanded the Cavegirls’ advantage to three, 7-4, late in the quarter, but a long two from sophomore Kailee Padilla kept Artesia within a shot going into the second, 7-6.
There, both teams would begin to shake off the doldrums offensively, with buckets by Dugan and Gonzales sandwiching a turn-around jumper from Hattie Harrison to keep Carlsbad on top, 11-8. But a trey and an offensive putback from Whitmire turned the tables, and the Lady ‘Dogs were able to maintain a two-point lead through the midway point, answering the Cavegirls shot for shot.
With 2:30 to go in the half, the Lady ‘Dogs put together a 7-2 run to give themselves some breathing room, 22-17, and a shot off the glass by Lorin Wagner and Padilla three-pointer in the final seconds sent Artesia to the locker room with a 10-point lead in hand, 27-17.
Rather than let up in the third quarter, the girls in orange hit the accelerator, opening with an 11-2 run that included a pair of buckets apiece by Harrison and Whitmire and a shot in the paint from Wagner, quickly bumping their 10-point edge to 19.
Dugan would drain a pair of late treys for Carlsbad to stop the bleeding, but Padilla sank her second of the game with 30 seconds to go to make it 41-25 Artesia heading into the fourth.
And while buckets came at a premium in the final eight minutes of play, the Lady ‘Dogs continued to maintain their solid night from the field. Wagner posted a pair of baskets and went 3-4 from the stripe and Padilla knocked down her third three-pointer to put the game well out of reach for the Cavegirls, who managed just five points in the fourth.
The 51-30 final moved Artesia to 6-3 on the season and marked Carlsbad’s (7-2) second loss of the year.
“We know Carlsbad is better than what they were last night,” said Houghtaling. “They hadn’t played since Dec. 19, so I think we caught them a little rusty. But we definitely played hard, and I sure was proud of our intensity and effort.
“I told the girls this morning at practice that was probably one of the biggest differences in the game was our effort in terms of going after loose balls, getting those 50/50 balls, jump balls and rebounds. I think our press helped us early, and we were able to turn them over a little bit here and there. All of those things combined to help us win the game last night.”
Padilla and Wagner both led all scorers on the night with 15 points each, followed by Whitmire with 13. Dugan finished with 14 for Carlsbad.
The Artesia girls were coming off a third-place finish last week at the Goddard Holiday Classic, another solid 2-1 showing that has the Lady Bulldogs in solid position as the 2024 portion of their schedule begins.
“I feel pretty good,” Houghtaling said. “We’re still a work in progress. I think we have a ways to go. We’re still very young at guard, but we’re getting better. And up until last night, we were committing about 25 turnovers a game, so it was pretty sloppy at times. Last night was a welcome sight to see. I think we had 14, and that’s a good mark for us.
“I also think our experience at post is really paying off. Right now, 10 games in, I think we’re being carried by our post play in terms of scoring, but our guards are coming along, and last night, we shot the ball pretty well from the perimeter. We ended up shooting about 35% from the three-point line. We’re putting up a lot of shots in practice each day, so I think that’s going to pay off eventually. Hopefully sooner than later.”
Houghtaling also said he’s been pleased with his athletes’ play off the bench thus far, and the squad’s depth is something he feels will serve it well down the line.
“I think when we get to district, our bench is going to be an advantage over a couple other teams,” said the coach. “So we’re going to keep developing that and keep shooting a lot inp ractice. We try to make practice as competitive as we can, and we’re excited about where we’re at. We’re not satisfied at all, but we’re certainly happy about it.”
The Lady ‘Dogs will now have a week off before their rematch with Carlsbad, set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bulldog Pit.
“I can’t imagine they’re not going to shoot better,” said Houghtaling. “They’ve been shooting better this year than they did last night, so no doubt we had a good game but we know that it’s going to be a tougher one Tuesday and we’re going to have to be ready.”
