Eagles Knock Off No. 1 Bulldogs

Round 2 went to Eldorado.

Junior guard Cullen Neal scored 16 points in the final 6 1/2 minutes Tuesday night -including two clutch 3-pointers very late in the proceedings – leading the third-ranked Eagles to a 63-57 home win over No. 1 Albuquerque High.

“He’s a terrific player,” AHS coach Ron Garcia said of Neal, “and he made a lot of terrific plays.”

The 6-foot-4 Neal was having one of his worst nights of the season until the final quarter. Part of that was Neal’s own doing, part of that was the Bulldogs’ defense.

And, Neal said, part of it was … well, let him tell it.

“I let the refs get into my head and that took me out of my game,” he said, smiling.

Whatever the source, Neal had 12 points through the first three quarters and was not much of a factor. He was a dismal 3-of-15 from the field.

But down the stretch, Neal was money – as he often is when game conditions are demanding.

He buried a 3-pointer with 1:33 to go to bring the Eagles within 55-54, and then he spotted up for another trey with 1:00 remaining to give Eldorado a 57-55 lead.

“Those were probably the two best looks I had all night,” said Neal, who finished with 28 points. He was 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles (7-3) had this game circled since losing a triple-overtime thriller to AHS (8-2) last month in the semifinals of the Albuquerque Metro Championships.

Also, Eldorado welcomed back senior point guard Cameron Glasrud, who had missed the entire season with a lacerated spleen. He was injured in a car accident in November; the driver was an Eldorado football player.

Glasrud came off the bench to score nine points in his return.

“I feel great,” said Glasrud. “It feels great to be back. I missed it.”

Tuesday’s game, like last month’s, was tight throughout. There were three ties and nine lead changes.

What was odd about Tuesday is that it ranked as one of Eldorado’s worst performances of 2011-12. That could be attributed both to a 18-day break (AHS had been off 17 days) and the return of Glasrud as the Eagles tried to adjust their floor chemistry and redistribute minutes.

“All of that,” EHS coach Roy Sanchez agreed. And it showed. The Eagles, who return to the floor Saturday against No. 4 Clovis, were clearly not in sync.

Albuquerque High was without guard Xavier Ayers. Garcia would only say it was a disciplinary matter.

Zach Lee added 10 points for Eldorado, which was 9-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter after making only 10 free throws through the first three quarters.

Martin Colledge-Romero had 20 points and Mahlik Sims 12 to pace AHS.
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal