Pina, Duarte too much for Nogales, Escapes with 57-53 win

LA PUENTE – The Nogales boys’ basketball team dropped its second game in as many games, falling to -the visiting Duarte Falcons 57-53 Friday night in a Montview League matchup.

Dale Batac’s potential game-tying 3 –point basket with 2.8 seconds to go in the game was disallowed because of a foul called prior to the shot. Instead, Nogales was sent to the free-throw line where they failed to convert the front end of the 1 and 1 and Duarte escaped with the victory, its first of the year after starting 0 and 18.

Duarte’s Danny Pìna led all scorers with 27 points while Tommy Silverman added 13 points, and Eddie Snider chipped in 9 points.

Nogales briefly led to end the first quarter 14-13, then it was all the Falcons (1-18, 1-3), who led by as much as 10 points.

Batac had 17 points, all in the second half, including 7 points in a row to put Nogales (6-14, 2-2) in position to tie or go ahead with under 30 seconds to go in the game. Matthew Frazier chipped in 11 points, while older brother Jordan added 9 points for Nogales.

In addition to the game, Nogales also lost Matthew in the second half when he left with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

Nogales looks to bounce back when it visits Sierra Vista (5-14, 1-1) Wednesday night to complete the first round of league games.

(Photo: Nogales bench cheers on the players uring a fouth quater