Gil's three wins it for Hawks
With the Gila Ridge girls basketball team trailing by a point and less than a minute left in the game, freshman Nadine Gil came to the rescue.
Gil received a pass from junior post Naomi Henry and banked in a 3-pointer on the left wing to lift the Hawks to a 45-43 win over Cibola on Saturday afternoon at Arizona Western College.
“I took the shot and you're either going to make it or miss it,” Gil said. “I felt like I was going to miss, but when I shot it I was confident in myself.”
Cibola led 43-35 midway through the fourth but Gila Ridge made its run. Sophomore Allison Weller came up with a basket, senior Kaelin Fox hit a 3-pointer and senior Mariah Carter made a pair of free throws to cut the Raiders' lead to 43-42 with 1:56 left.
The Raiders (6-5) struggled down the stretch, finishing their final four possessions with a missed 3-pointer and three turnovers.
“We didn't secure the ball. We have to be smarter with the ball. We've been in the situations all year being in close games,” Cibola coach Justin Hager said.
Gila Ridge (6-4) got the ball back under its own hoop with 41 seconds left in the game and Henry received the inbounds pass before finding Gil for the game-winning three.
“I had a lot of confidence in her. She's a freshman but she's got the green light,” Gila Ridge coach David Schultz said of Gil.
Gil finished with seven points and five rebounds and the Hawks didn't have anybody score in double-figures. However, sophomore point guard Camille Ochoa (nine points), Weller (nine), Carter (eight) helped chipped in on the scoring. Weller also added nine rebounds.
For the Raiders, senior post Alexis Evans had a game-high 12 points to go with nine rebounds and sophomore guard Malacah Jackson scored eight in a losing effort.
The two-point win avenges a 53-16 loss the Raiders gave the Hawks on Dec. 4.
“We made some adjustments to breaking their press and we've played more basketball games and offensively we have a lot more movement. Defensively, they have a lot more confidence,” Schultz said.
Kofa winning streak 
hits seven
The Kofa girls basketball team head into a two-week break on a seven-game winning streak.
The Kings got a big performance from senior guard Adly Wiley and beat Yuma High 62-21 on Saturday night at Arizona Western College.
Wiley finished with 25 points for the Kings, who improve to 8-2 on the season.
“I was nervous before the game because I wasn't making my shots but when the game started I just focused,” said Wiley, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter alone.
“Adly just came out fired up today and was ready to play. She's fast. I told her to utilize her quickness and she did,” Kofa coach Mary Kaye Garcia said.
The seven straight wins come after Kofa collapsed late and lost 49-46 to Cibola.
“My team has been working a lot on playing under pressure,” Garcia said.
Yuma High (0-10) got a team-high four points from senior posts Baylee Franklin and Janeana Kosterlistky. The Criminals also lost 73-20 to Kofa earlier on the year at home.
Kofa is off until they play at a tournament at Payson on Dec. 28-29 and Yuma High hosts Brawley on Wednesday.
Jesse Severson can be reached at jseverson@yumasun.com or at 539-6881. Find him on Facebook at facebook.com/YSJesseSeverson.
