Cibola's defense carries Raiders in rough shooting night

The Cibola girls basketball team's win at Kofa on Thursday night wasn't the prettiest game in the world.

But for the Raiders, who will have a potential playoff spot hang in the balance every time they take the floor, any kind of win is more than welcome.

With both teams struggling from the floor, the Raiders cranked up their defense and came away with a 48-28 win.

Holding the eighth and final seed in Division I Section I, Cibola (13-2) missed several easy shots around the basket but held the Kings to eight points in the second half and 12 for 52 shooting (23 percent) on the game.

“We made some adjustments in the second half and realized what we have to do. They definitely picked it up defensively,” Cibola coach Justin Hager said. “They had to.”

Brandi Badilla was a bright spot for the Raiders, finishing with 13 points on 6 for 11 shooting while grabbing nine rebounds and Ashley Doering chipped in 11. For the Kings, Adly Wiley and Jasmine Ortiz scored nine points apiece.

Both teams struggled under their opponent's defensive pressure as Cibola finished with 24 turnovers and Kofa (8-5) turned it over 26 times.

The Raiders led 12-10 after the first quarter, but the Kings got their first and only lead a few minutes into the second when a Wiley layup made it 14-12.

After Cibola got the lead back, they jumped the lead up to 24-16 late in the second. In the closing moments of the half, the Kings scored a pair of consecutive baskets, including a layup by Jocelyn Castaneda with 28 seconds left, to cut the Raider lead to 24-20 going into halftime.

In the second half, though, the Cibola defense was just too tough for Kofa to handle. The Raiders held the Kings to 2 for 24 shooting in the final periods and slowly extended their lead in the second half.

“I think we were a little impatient on offense in the first half,” Hager said. “I think we did a little better in the second half of not just making one pass and firing up a shot.”

“We struggled at the free-throw line and couldn't hit a layup in the second half,” Kofa coach Eric Krepps said before pointing out a silver lining: “Defensively, I think we played a good game.”

Both Cibola (7 for 21) and Kofa (4 for 14) struggled from the charity stripe on Thursday but the shaky percentages still amounted for a crucial win for the Raiders, who play again at 7 p.m. today at San Luis.

Jesse Severson can be reached at jseverson@yumasun.com or at 539-6881. Find him at facebook.com/YSJesseSeverson