Poor shooting dooms Mustangs against Amphi, Douglas

The Sahuarita Mustangs needed a big week to get back into the playoff picture.

The boys played with effort and urgency, but the two teams they played were just a little better.

The Mustangs (5-16, 2-7 4A-II Gila) opened the week with a 77-56 home loss to the juggernaut out of Amphi High School (23-1, 10-0) and followed that up with a nearly identical 75-56 defeat at the hands of the hot-shooting Douglas Bulldogs (9-9, 5-4).

“I didn’t think we played poorly at all this week,” said head coach Scott Boyter. “After we went back and watched the film, we saw a couple defensive breakdowns, but we did a very solid job in both games. You have to give Amphi and Douglas credit for making all those shots.”

On Thursday, the Bulldogs caught fire from beyond the arc, hitting 13 3-pointers, including a 9-15 showing in the first half. Sahuarita’s perimeter defenders did a decent job challenging those shots, but Douglas couldn’t miss.

The Bulldogs opened up a 42-26 first-half lead. Sahuarita battled back as hard as it could, but each time the squad got within striking distance, Douglas would knock down some more jump shots.

Josh Mott led the Mustangs with one of his better games of the season, tallying 20 points and 11 rebounds — eight of those on the offensive end. Kyle Dawicki added nine, with Andre Porterfield and Ruben Villa chipping in eight apiece.

The 56 points is right around the Mustangs’ average, but the 33-percent shooting effort (along with an 8-18 performance from the free-throw line) was what did them in.

“The ball just isn’t falling for us like it is for other teams,” Boyter said.

Last Tuesday, the Mustangs took on Amphi for the second time this season, hoping to improve upon the 101-63 defeat on Jan. 7.

Sahuarita did stick with the Panthers this time around, but Amphi simply has too many offensive options.

Amphi didn’t have one of its customary offensive explosions, but the Panthers pounded the offensive glass (21 of their 49 rebounds were on the offensive end) and left Sahuarita with a hard-fought 21-point victory.

“Amphi is just phenomenal,” Boyter said. “There aren’t too many teams in the state — regardless of class — that can hang with those guys.”

Bakeer Fellah — Amphi’s fourth-leading scorer on the season — exploded for 28 points on 10-12 shooting. Tim Derksen added 15 points and 11 rebounds, with Malcolm Millner scoring 14. The Panthers also had 25 assists on 28 made field goals.

The Mustangs were able to force 20 Amphi turnovers (Greg Cobbs had three of Sahuarita’s 13 steals), but another sub-40-percent shooting performance hurt Sahuarita’s chances.

Mott enjoyed another stellar offensive showing with 22 points on 9-14 shooting, but no other Mustang contributed a double-digit scoring night.

“Josh has had two huge scoring games, but we need to get two or three others in double figures with him,” Boyter said. “We’re getting good shots. We just need to start knocking them down.”

The Mustangs have another tough week ahead with last night’s game at Palo Verde, followed by Thursday night’s home showdown with Santa Rita and Friday night’s home game against Catalina. All games start at 7 p.m.

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