Victoria Cazares set a new Pueblo career scoring mark in 59-50 win over Sunnyside

December 19, 2022 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Victoria Cazares. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

Pueblo improved to 11-1 overall and 8-0 in power-ranking games after holding off Sunnyside 59-50 Monday night at home. The Blue Devils are now 7-4 overall and 4-3 in ranking games with the first set of AIA rankings set to be released on Jan. 5.

The Warriors also celebrated a milestone for senior guard Victoria Cazares who scored 21 points in the contest to reach 1,493 career points, passing former Pueblo standout Ilyssa Galindo who graduated in 2018 with 1,475 career points. Cazares came into the game with Sunnyside needing four points to pass Galindo and she reached that mark with 30.7 seconds left in the first quarter.

Pueblo led 14-2 at one point but Blue Devils junior standout Nayeli Nidez-Acuña scored a game-high 30 points, including a bucket and a free throw with 4:56 left in the third quarter to give Sunnyside a 29-27 lead. Sunnyside held a 35-33 lead with 21 seconds left in the third but Pueblo went on a 7-1 run to close out the period with a 40-36 lead.

Pueblo started to pull away in the fourth quarter for the 59-50 win. Besides the 30 points from Acuña, Gabi Delgado hit three 3-pointers to score nine points and Desiree Lopez scored five. Cazares scored her 21 points and America Cazares added 14 points, Sandra Perez scored eight, Sara Galindo scored seven and Neveah Sandoval scored six.

Sunnyside will visit Palo Verde (2-12, 1-6) on Tuesday and Pueblo will visit Amphitheater (9-5, 2-2) on Wednesday and both squads will take part in the Flowing Wells Holiday Shootout slated to start on Dec. 28 in Tucson.