Horns up! Lady Rams survive wild finish with just three players on the floor in a big day for Antelope hoops
While the Antelope boys team dominated, the girls had to pull out all the strings to win
WELLTON, Ariz., (KYMA, KECY) - In a five-on-five game, it's not expected that only three players from one team would be walking off the floor with all zeros on the clock - let alone with a win.
Yet, that was the scenario Thursday evening at Ira Murphy Gym for the Antelope Lady Rams.
On top of that, the Rams' top two scorers were on the bench and their head coach was outside of the gym in those final seconds.
All of this representing just a little glimpse of what sports can bring: craziness and unpredictability.
With just two minutes left in the third quarter, the Lady Rams found themselves down by eight against the visiting Bagdad Sultans. That's when Jocelyn Guillen put matters into her own hands and polished off a 6-0 run on her own. Another bucket from Rams' Gizelle Monge and a Bagdad free throw had the game tied up at 28 midway through the fourth quarter.
As if things weren't about to get crazy enough, head coach Sal Arcos, received a technical foul and was ejected from the game by one referee - leaving it to the boys' head coach, Angel Esparza, to take over for the final minutes.
After each team traded a couple buckets, the Rams led by two when Guillen got knocked out with her fifth and final foul of the game. Still, the Rams held strong on defense and added another late free throw to eventually lead by four.
When Monge was the next of several Rams to foul out, along with Guillen, Marissa Carillo and Alejandra V, the team was left with three players on the floor with under 30 seconds left.
With all the chaos that ensued, Natalia Martinez, Monika Felix and Veronika Felix held down the fort and added another steal and one final rebound to secure the win in wild fashion.
The Lady Rams improve to 4-1 on the season.
Then just 15 minutes later, there was another game to be played. This one though, would not come down to the wire.
The boys took the floor in the second game of the double-header with Bagdad on the other sideline and they would take care of business right from the tip.
Kenan Ragels once again led the way with 28 points, following a 42-point performance in their last win. Freshman Antonio Luna followed that with 18 points, as well, en route to a dominating 88-28 win for their second straight.
