Sutton’s Career-High 27 Secures WJCAC Championship
NMJC freshman guard Amyah Sutton scored a career-high 27 points in just 20 minutes of play to down Clarendon College 100-84 in the final regular season game of the year.
The T-Birds with the win over the Bulldogs earned their second WJCAC title under head coach Austin Mefford and ninth WJCAC title in program history.
The victory did not come easy for the T-Birds. Clarendon was focused in the first quarter and even led by as many as eight points, 23-15, with 24 seconds left in the period. Sutton made two free throws at the end of the first to cut the lead to six, 23-17, after one quarter of play.
The second quarter was just as competitive with four lead changes. Filipa Calisto's jumper with 6:48 left in the half put the T-Birds in front 26-25 for the first time since the 4:31 mark in the first quarter. The Bulldogs scored seven unanswered to grab a five-point lead, 31-26, with 5:28 left in the second.
The triples began to fall for NMJC the rest of the half. The T-Birds hit four straight 3-pointers with two each by Sutton and Nuria Estrade. NMJC went into the half up by 10 points, 46-36.
The Thunderbirds led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but Clarendon chipped away and cut the lead to nine points, 69-60.
Clarendon made it interesting with a run in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were within three points following a made trey at the 8:18 mark. A quick 11-0 run by the T-Birds cooled any threat presented.
Estrade lit it up from behind the arc in the fourth. In a span of two minutes, Estrade hit three straight triples to make the score 88-73 with 4:30 to go. The Thunderbirds cruised the rest of the way winning by 16 points over the Bulldogs 100-84.
The Thunderbirds had six players in double figures with all five starters included.
Nuria Estrade earned her first conference start of the year and made it count knocking down six 3-pointers to finish with 18 points.
Pania Davis finished with her 13th double-double of the season. Davis recorded 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks. The sophomore forward ended the year with 87 blocks, which broke the school record of 85 set by Anotoina Robinson in the 2014-15 season.
Cacia Antonio recorded her sixth double-double of the year. Antonio finished the night with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists. Filipa Calisto posted 11 points and five rebounds in the 16-point win over the Bulldogs.
Aaliyah Holmes was the lone scorer off the bench for NMJC with 16 points and six assists. The sophomore guard added four more 3-pointers to make her season total 67. The Austin, Texas native is just seven 3-pointers shy from tying Angel Reyes's (2010-11) record for most threes in a season at 74.
The T-Birds shot 35-for-76 (46.1%) from the field, 13-of-29 (44.8%) from 3-point land and 17-of-21 (81%) from the line. NMJC held the Bulldogs to 32.1% from the field.
The Thunderbirds tied with Odessa for the WJCAC title with each team finishing 13-1 in conference with the lone losses coming to each other on the road. The T-Birds won the coin flip tiebreaker over Odessa College to lock in the No. 1 spot in the WJCAC.
NMJC will play Cisco in the first round of the Region V tournament in Weatherford, Texas on Wednesday, March 13 at 1 p.m. CDT. Click here to see the stream for Wednesday's game.
Tournament passes are $25 each, and day passes are $10 or $8 for senior citizens or students. Passes for the games can be purchased in advance online at weatherfordcollege.simpletix.com.