Vaqueras hold off hard charging Gila Monsters to advance to national tourney
By ED PETRUSKA, Contributing Writer Pinal Central

Third-seeded Eastern (21-11) reached the title game by edging No. 2 seed Cochise 74-73 in overtime on Tuesday night. The Gila Monsters were ahead of CAC after each of the first three periods, mainly because of poor shooting and ballhandling by the Vaqueras."I knew (Eastern) would be ready," Cardenas said.

"What I didn't realize is that we would be non-existent offensively for the first three quarters."

The Gila Monsters led 12-11 after one, 24-20 at halftime and 40-35 after three. The Vaqueras went 1 for 10 on 3-pointers in the first half and shot 9 for 28 overall (32 percent) while committing 13 of their 22 turnovers.

CAC made just 5 of 16 field-goal attempts and had seven turnovers in the third quarter. The Vaqueras, who went 22-0 in Arizona Community College Athletic Conference play with an average margin of victory of 26.4 points, finally had some success in the final period.

Alexia Marsh's 3-pointer with 7:27 remaining ignited a 15-0 surge that began with Eastern holding a 42-37 lead. Her basket with 1:35 left ended the run and gave Central a 52-42 lead.

Denali Hughes scored five points during that decisive sequence. She provided 13 points coming off the bench.

"She came in and busted her tail, for sure," Cardenas said. "She battled and kept second chances alive."

Only five players scored for the Vaqueras. Makayla Pippin led with 17 points, followed by game MVP Jenay Bojorquez with 14. Marsh had 11.

ACCAC player of the year Ayanna Clark was limited to four points before hobbling off the court with an apparent ankle injury with 5:25 remaining. Clark came in averaging 19.3 points.

Cardenas said Clark was shut down for the most part because "they had four people" guarding her.

An 11-0 run in the early going staked CAC to nine-point lead before the Gila Monsters closed the first quarter with a 10-0 surge. Eastern outscored the Vaqueras 12-9 in the second period and 16-15 in the third.

Central went scoreless on its last 12 possessions of the first half, going 0 for 9 from the field with seven turnovers. Eastern was nearly as hapless with eight scoreless possessions to end the second quarter.

"I think there was a lot of nerves going on due to the magnitude of the game, but that's no excuse," Cardenas said. "When our (outside) shots weren't falling and they were taking away everything inside, we were forcing things."

The Vaqueras never scored fewer than 73 points in conference play. They posted wins of 76-62 and 91-66 over Eastern during the regular season.

Danja Stafford scored 18 points and Deion Abalos had 10 for the Gila Monsters, who shot 26 percent from the floor (17 for 66).