Wolverines Lassoed into a Loss Against the Cowboys

Jonathan+Jarmillo+jumping+the+ball+at+Tuesdays+game+against+the+Happy+Cowboys.

Grace McIver

Jonathan Jarmillo jumping the ball at Tuesday’s game against the Happy Cowboys.

Lynnsey Mahler, Writer

On Tuesday, January 31st, the Springlake-Earth Wolverines took on the Happy Cowboys at home. Although the game was better than the last time the boys played Happy, it still had a disappointing turnout. 

“The game started, and right off the bat, we knew Happy was going to give us a hard time,” junior and spectator Xavyer Mosqueda said. “Happy put their head down and just played.” 

The game started slowly with Happy fighting for the lead. Senior Alex Alvarez and junior Jonathan Jaramillo both had two fouls early in the first quarter and were taken out of the game until halftime. Junior Gavin Gonzales and sophomore Timothy Tovar went in and did well.  

“Timo did a good job because he was scoring, getting us rebounds, and playing good defense,” Jaramillo said. “He didn’t panic, and he was prepared once they called him out.” 

The quarter ended 7-16 with Happy up. The second quarter saw both teams’ efforts, with the Wolverines scoring 14 points and the Cowboys scoring 13. The score going into halftime was 21-29, Happy in the lead.  

“After halftime, we just started playing more aggressively, so they started turning over the ball, making it to where we were able to score more,” Jaramillo said.  

In the third quarter, the Wolverines picked up speed, but not for long.  

“It took us a while to warm up,” spectator Crystal Mosqueda said. “Then, we couldn’t get as many shots to fall, and we had some bad passes that were costly and gave them an advantage.” 

The Wolverines slowed down and lost competitiveness. For example, Alvarez, who was the game’s high scorer, only made four points in the third quarter compared to seven in the fourth.  

“We started turning over the fall, and they just had fast-break after fast-break. That’s what hurt us there,” Jaramillo said.  

The slowdown for the Wolverines was detrimental while the Cowboys just went up from there.  

“They had really good defense, which correlates with their competitiveness,” X. Mosqueda said. “The boys had a hard time getting past half-court, much less getting to the basket.”  

The Wolverines tried their hardest to recover, but it was not good enough to prevent a Happy Cowboy win with a final score of 54-42. 

“They fought hard, never really gave up, and worked together well,” C. Mosqueda said. “Almost everyone that played scored, so it wasn’t just one person. They were all working together.”