The Safford Lady Bulldogs moved their record to 4-0 with a 49-36 win over the Snowflake Lobos in the first game of a double header basketball matchup in Safford Tuesday night. Safford trailed early before turning up the defensive pressure and led 21-16 at halftime. Safford built their second half lead to as many as 15 before the Lobos made a mini run and cut the lead to 10. The combination of Mia Carter and Deion Abalos were too much too late for Snowflake and the Bulldogs held on for the 13 point win.
“We had 4 girls in double figures tonight,” said Safford Head Coach Robert Abalos. “That is huge, we are going to need to find points off the bench.”
The Bulldogs boys squad used a big 4th quarter to outlast Snowflake in the 2nd game of the doubleheader.
Safford sprinted out to an early 9-2 lead before the Lobos went on a 20-5 run to end the 1st quarter to lead 22-14. The ‘Dogs kept pace in quarter 2 but could never take the lead in the back and forth fast pace game. The Lobos took a 39-36 lead into the locker room at the half.
Trett Wiltbank paced the Bulldogs in the 3rd quarter with 7 quick points. But much like the 1st quarter, the Lobos wouldn’t back down and behind Jared Fusselman’s 21 total points, the Lobos led 58-54 after 3 quarters.
The Bulldogs applied a full quarter press in the 4th quarter that stymied Snowflake and led to easy fast break layups. The beneficiary of this for Safford was sophomore Jejdrique Chavez who poured in 13 4th quarter points, including 5 straight free throws to seal the win for Safford. Chavez led both teams with 28 points and 11 rebrounds in the win. Drew Cochran added his own double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. The Bulldogs outscored Snowflake 23-15 in the 4th quarter.
Fusselman led Snowflake with 23 points in the loss. Safford moves to 3-1 on the season. Snowflake falls to 1-1.
“Snowflake played their butts off,” said Safford Head Coach Terry Williams. “I was proud of my guys for fighting back from the deficit. But fundamentally we still have a lot of work to do.”
