Milestones usually come in blowouts or in games where the outcome is predictable – never in a battle and certainly not with the game on the line – but the Sunnyside faithful were treated to something special Tuesday night when the Blue Devils held on to defeat Nogales 50-47.

Mikey Silva came into the game needing 14 points to reach the 1,000-point mark and the senior standout got that, and more, just when his team needed him the most.

Down 45-42 thanks to a dramatic 3-pointer from Samuel Legleu, Silva scored a bucket in traffic to give him 1,001 points. He also put the Blue Devils within reach with 1:51 left in the game.

The Apaches turned the ball over and Silva was fouled with 1:16 left in the game. He made both free throws to give Sunnyside a brief 46-45 lead. Legleu sored again seconds later to put Nogales back up 47-46.

Down again, Silva drove the court and went into the heart of the Nogales defense and came away with a score to put Sunnyside up 48-47 with 34.3 second left. The Apaches committed another turnover and sophomore guard Adrian Canastillo was sent to the line.

Canastillo missed the front end of a one-and-one but Jorge Acevedo tracked down the long rebound. Canastillo was fouled again and he made both free throws this time to give the Blue Devils a 50-47 lead with 24 seconds left.

Nikc Jackson (correct spelling) is a junior transfer from Michigan. The 6-8 power forward did most of his offensive damage for Sunnyside earlier in the game but his defensive prowess and rebounding ability put the game away late. He blocked a 3-pointer with 16.2 seconds left and secured the rebound and he collected another rebound with two seconds left to secure the victory.

Jackson finished with 18 points and Silva led all scorers with 19. Jackson also pulled down 14 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the year. Oh, and he had five blocks. Not bad considering a recruiter from Grand Canyon was sitting in the stands.

Even though he reached 1,000 points, Silva reflected on how he got to that important individual stat.

“I feel blessed and I’m thankful to be able to follow in Jacob’s (Inclan) footsteps,” Silva explained on his former teammate who graduated last year with 1,758 career points.

“I worked hard and played my game and now look where I’m at. I trusted my teammates and I was able to get some open shots to get the win,” Silva added.

Inclan is averaging over 20 points a game for South Mountain and he was in the stands to watch Silva.

Besides, Inclan and Silva, Sunnyside has had a rich history of high scorers with Deron Johnson (1984-89) scoring 2,108 career points and Jermaine Watts (1990-94) putting in 2,055.

Legleu led Nogales with 18 points but things didn’t look good for the Apaches early on with the Blue Devils sprinting out to a 15-0 lead to start the game. Jackson scored ten points in that stretch but turnovers helped get the Apaches back into the game and Nogales went into the locker room only down 24-19.

David Villa tied the game up at 30-30 with a 3-pointer with 2:32 left in the third to complete the comeback. It looked like the Apaches were going to steal the game after they went on a 12-0 run to take a 42-34 lead with 4:44 left in the game but then came Silva.

The Blue Devils closed out the game on a 16-5 run for the 50-47 win. 

Sunnyside (8-5) will visit Pueblo (2-2) on Thursday night and Nogales (2-8) will host Mountain View Marana (5-5) on the same night.