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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Late Free Throws Lift Pintos to Victory

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    Moriarty High's Corey Bond stood at the free-throw line, eyed the basket with a steady gaze, cupped the ball in his left shooting hand and then sank two free throws.
    The two charity tosses, under pressure with 5.4 seconds left in overtime during Tuesday's game at John B. Salvo Gym, ultimately earned the heretofore struggling Moriarty High boys basketball team an exciting 54-53 victory against Del Norte.
    The win was the first in District 5-4A for the Pintos (4-21, 1-8). The Knights (2-23, 1-8) previously defeated Moriarty 76-67 at DNHS on Feb. 1.
    "I got nervous," said Bond, a 5-foot-9, 155-pound sophomore. "But I told myself they were just free throws."
    Bond went to the line after Knight Chris Archuleta, with his team holding a 1-point lead, inexplicably fouled Bond as he dribbled the ball upcourt. Archuleta had missed two free throws with 5.5 seconds left.
    Del Norte coach Gerome Espinoza was asked to pinpoint the difference in the game.
    "Free throws," he said.
    The Knights were 2-of-7 from the line in the extra period. The Pintos hit 3-of-4 in OT.
    The game had some controversial moments. The Knights, who had a 31-27 lead at the time, were slapped with a technical with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
    Del Norte's No. 14, Cameron Stern, had entered the game, but he was listed as No. 4 in the official book, which is routinely maintained by home-team personnel.
    Pinto Carlos Batts missed the resulting free throws. And Del Norte went on to take a 35-29 lead by the end of the period.
    A Knights assistant coach also bitterly complained about the operation of the clock during the game, both the frequent need by the officials to reset the time in the middle of play and its control by a Moriarty C-team coach.
    However, Espinoza said the scorebook and clock issues did not affect the outcome.
    "We just didn't make the free throws," Espinoza said.
    Moriarty rallied from a 24-18 halftime deficit after trailing 14-5 in the first quarter. Pinto Ben Gonzales' steal at midcourt and his resultant flip over the rim for the goal with 40 seconds left in regulation gave his team a 47-46 lead.
    Del Norte tied it at 47— with a Cody Blocker free throw with 26.2 seconds remaining— to force the overtime.
    Free throws might have been the concluding factor, but it was Gonzales' aggressive play that kept Moriarty in contention. He had 15 points.
    Pinto Kyle Wolf, who left the game with 2:13 left in the fourth due to an injury, contributed 10 points.
    Reggie Stamps paced the Knights with 15 points.
    "This was a fun game," said Moriarty coach Frank Gonzalez. "It's not fun when you're losing by 30 or 40 points or even sometimes when you're winning by 30 or 40. The kids learned, and they played hard."
   
   
    Pintos hoops
    Next Up:
   

Moriarty girls host St. Pius, today, 7 p.m.
   

Moriarty boys at St. Pius, today, 7 p.m.