Curd’s late effort propels Airedales

5A-WEST BOYS ALMA 44, RUSSELLVILLE 40 HAROLD MCILVAIN II

ALMA — Alma junior guard Camden Curd didn’t have his best offensive night Friday. But when it mattered most, Curd came up clutch for the Airedales to extend their winning streak to 11 games.

Curd scored all of his seven points to lead Alma in the fourth quarter to a 44-40 come-from-behind victory against Russellville in a 5A-West Conference matchup at Charles B. Dyer Arena.

“I just feel like my teammates kept me in the moment to be able to make those shots late,” Curd said. “When I made those shots, my teammates reminded me to let it fly. They trusted me. To be able to step up when I needed to, I was just the guy today. It could be anybody else on this team next time.”

With Alma (17-8, 10-0) up 30-29 entering the fourth quarter, Curd hit a pair of big three-point baskets to create some separation. He hit back-to-back baskets to give the Airedales a 38-33 edge.

Curd and the Airedales used a strong defensive effort late to help seal the victory by forcing back-to-back turnovers to end the game.

With 15 seconds left and just a 42-40 lead, Curd secured a steal off a deflection from Chris Salazar for a stop. Easton Boggs made a pair of free throws for a 44-40 edge with just 5.5 seconds left before Russellville had another turnover after that.

“It’s been three games in a row we haven’t played well all four quarters,” Alma Coach Dominic Lincoln said. “But what has been impressive is we find just enough to finish and come out on top.

This team is gritty and mentally tough. Our guys stay focused and believe in each other. We are truly a team. We are so connected right now as a group.”

Russellville (21-5, 6-4) blitzed Alma right out of the gate for a 22-10 lead after the opening quarter. Donavon Villarreal scored a team-high 12 first-quarter points.

But after losing the opening quarter, Alma won each of the next to rally. Alma outscored its opponent 14-5 in the second quarter to trail 27-24 at halftime.

The Airedales then used a 6-2 low-scoring third quarter to take a 30-29 lead into the fourth quarter after a late free throw from Hutson Boggs.

Israel Towns-Robinson guided the way for Alma by scoring all of his team-leading 10 points in the first half. He also finished with 10 rebounds. Easton Boggs and Carmani Smith each scored eight points to help round out the balanced scoring in the season sweep of the Cyclones.

Russellville received big games from Villarreal (gamehigh 21 points) and Cameron Frazier (9 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 blocks).

GIRLS RUSSELLVILLE 60, ALMA 39

A balanced night from Taleigha Ealy (15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists and 2 steals), Zariah Campbell (12 points), Shyisha Willis (10 points) and Jasmine Garcia (10 points) guided the Lady Cyclones.

Alma (7-19, 1-9) was led by Jordan Gramlich finishing with a team-high 17 points to go with 12 rebounds.

Russellville (18-6, 8-2) has now won eight of its past nine games. The Lady Cyclones also received nine assists from Brenna Burk.

Alma found itself down 22-8 after the opening quarter of the game then 3720 at halftime. Russellville was able to build a 51-30 advantage entering the final quarter to put the game well out of reach.