Hornets play waiting game, rally to beat Cibola

As much as anything, the Highland Hornets simply waited Cibola out on Wednesday night.

This did not, at least at the start, shape up as a game that Highland (9-4), Class 4A’s second-ranked team, would win by double figures, which the Hornets eventually did, 69-57 in the Cougars’ gym.

For a good bit of the first half, Cibola (7-8) was throwing it in from everywhere on the floor. The Cougars’ early heater allowed them to lead by 11 midway through the first quarter and by 14 in the final minutes of the second quarter.

“They came out red hot which we kind of expected,” said Highland coach Justin Woody. His team also beat Cibola on Friday in the metro tournament. “They shot the lights out.”

Cibola got 3s in the first quarter from Olon Williams, Chris Williams and Elijah Martinez as the Cougars raced out to a 17-6 lead. Those were the first three 3s Cibola attempted.

There was a Highland burst to open the second quarter, a 7-0 run that cut a 24-13 deficit to 24-20. But Martinez and Chris Williams combined to score the next 11 for Cibola, which extended out to a 35-21 lead with 2½ minutes to go before halftime.

Highland scored the last six of the half, and that momentum carried over into the third quarter.

Nico Sanchez, who scored a team-best 23 points for the Hornets, connected on an early 3 to bring Highland within six at 38-32. And the Hornets kept at it, with sharper defense at one end and more offensive efficiency at the other.

Following a Cibola 3 for a 41-32 lead, Highland scored the next eight, including a long jumper by Fede Nunez, a nice spin move and finish by Sanchez, a putback by Jerry Moody and a six-footer off the glass by Juan Limas.

Edwin Montelongo’s only field goal of the game for Highland eventually tied the game at 44 with 3:21 to go in the third. A free throw by Moody with 2:27 left in the third gave the Hornets their first lead (45-44) of the night.

And moments later, the towering junior, the 6-foot-9 Moody, hauled in an offensive rebound, kicked it out on the wing to Nunez, who promptly drilled a catch-and-shoot 3 for a 48-44 lead for the Hornets.

“The momentum … we just kept it going and kept the energy going and that’s it,” said Nunez, one of three Highland players to finish with 13 points, along with Limas and Moody.

Meanwhile, Cibola gradually cooled off as the game progressed.

“That was our message at halftime,” Woody said. “Let’s take it one possession at a time, chip away one basket at a time, and that’s what we did.

“We did a better job of getting our hands up on shooters,” he added. “(I thought), if we can just pressure them and make them make contested outside shots, then it’s their night. But they cooled off a little bit.”

Sanchez, Moody, Nunez – who scored 11 of his 13 after halftime – and Limas combined to score 62 of Highland’s 69 points.

“We’re feeling very good,” Nunez said. “We did good in metros, we just need to keep the rhythm going and we’re gonna be fine.” Martinez, who recently became Cibola’s all-time career scoring leader, led the Cougars with 21 points. Chris Williams added 14 points.