The Douglas Bulldog basketball team brought up the curtain on the 2012/13 basketball season last week winning two of the three games it played.
 Daniel Valenzuela attempts to drive through two Empire players on his way to the basket in the Bulldogs season opener Nov. 27. Douglas lost the game but came back Friday and Saturday to post wins over Sahuarita and Willcox. Bruce Whetten/Douglas Dispatch |
Eduardo Ysea led the Bulldogs in scoring with 18 points, Guillermo Gamez followed with eight and Fernando Diaz and Luis Padilla each contributed six.
Douglas trailed 5-0 before Ysea drilled a three-pointer giving the Dogs their first points of the season.
Empire would lead 15-10 at the end of the first quarter and have a 27-22 lead in the second before three straight Raven turnovers would result in a 6-0 run for Douglas who would take a 28-27 lead.
Empire would go on to lead 32-28 at the half.
On Friday, Nov. 30 the Bulldogs hosted the Sahuarita Mustangs. Douglas trailed for most of this game before a fourth quarter surge would give the Bulldogs a 72-65 win.
The win was aided by Douglas’ bench who outscored Sahuarita’s bench 29-2.
Ysea scored 24 points this game, Diaz would follow with 16, Adrian Pena had eight and junior Nick Menduette contributed six.
Douglas trailed 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and 28-24 at the half.
The Mustangs carried a 50-47 lead into the fourth. Ysea drilled a three tying the game at 50.
The Bulldogs pulled away in the final two minutes taking advantage of some Sahuarita miscues.
Diaz’ rebound and tip-in with 30 seconds remaining gave Douglas its largest lead of the night at 72-63.
On Saturday, Dec. 1 the Bulldogs hosted the Willcox Cowboys in the DHS gym and came away with a 60-41 win.
Ysea scored 22 points this game while Padilla had nine, Pena eight and Menduette six.
Douglas led 23-7 at the end of the first quarter and 34-16 at the half.
Willcox narrowed the led to eight, 42-34, heading into the final period where Douglas would go on an 18-7 run.
Bulldog basketball coach Oscar Mariscal said that win over Sahaurita was a big win for his team.
“They came in, they were a big team and we kept it close the whole game,” he said. Fortunately we were able to pull it out in the fourth quarter.”
Mariscal praised the play of his bench saying everyone we put in contributed something towards the win.
“When we get that kind of out put from our bench it only helps,” he said.
Against Willcox the coach felt his team started off strong then got a little flat during the game before finishing strong.
“I like what I’m seeing from these kids,” the coach said. “Our post players are playing well, our guards are taking care of the ball for us. Playing like this was good for us this week. I just hoping we continue to get better.”
The Bulldogs, 2-1, hosted Tombstone last night in the DHS gym. This weekend they’ll be in Benson taking part in the Benson Holiday Invitational.
Freshmen
The freshman basketball team started off their season strong last week easily beating both of their opponents by large margins.
Douglas began the week beating the Empire Ravens 47-32.
The Bulldogs started off dominant jumping out to a 20-2 lead.
Douglas had balanced scoring from its first unit who contributed 41 of the team's 47 points led by Dwight Swanson who had a team high 11 points.
On defense, Joey Encinas had a game high 10 rebounds and Alejandro Villalobos led the team with four steals.
On Friday, Nov. 30 the freshman Bulldogs thumped Sahuarita’s freshmen 57-43.
Villalobos once again led the team in steals with seven and turned them into quick points which helped lead to his game high 20 points. Swanson was close behind adding 17 points of his own. Jesus Cisneros also filled up the stat sheet chipping in eight points, grabbing four rebounds, dishing out four assists, and collecting six steals.
"The wins were a nice reward for a great group of kids that have worked extremely hard for the past month. We have a very talented group this year and look forward to having a great season," freshman Coach Abe Grijalva said.
The Bulldogs will not play again until they travel to Bisbee Dec. 13.
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