Demons fall to Hirschi of Texas, 58-44, at Hobbs, and Horsemen take a 52-48 defeat against Belen at Clovis
By Arnie Leshin
While the boy’s basketball teams of Capital High and Santa Fe Indian School are on holiday break, St. Michael’s and Santa Fe High dropped games Thursday in their respective holiday tournaments.
The Demons dropped to 5-7 via a 58-44 setback to Hirschi, Tex., in the Hobbs Christmas tournament, and now play in the consolation game today against Rio Rancho Cleveland at the Tasker Arena.
Santa Fe High started slow and quickly trailed 9-0. At the end of the opening quarter, it was behind 14-7. Hirschi (8-4) upped its advantage to 33-19 in the second quarter as the Demons were outscored 19-12. Senior Victor Salcido was high scorer for Santa Fe High with 13 points, 10 of which came in the second half.
Down by 18 points, the Demons made a 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 43-33 while tossing in four 3s. That was as close as they got.
St. Michael’s is playing at the Clovis Invitational and lost a 52-48 contest to Belen. The Horsemen, now 5-5, was led by senior Antonio Gabaldon’s 15 points.
A 17-12 run in the second quarter brought St. Michael’s a seven-point lead , but the Eagles (8-2) cut the lead to 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter, where they then outscored the Horsemen, 21-14. Thomas Wood added nine points for St. Michael’s, which now meets up with Carlsbad in the Friday consolation semifinals at the Rock Staubus gymnasium.