SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
Panthers now 12-2 as defending state 3A champions, while Santa Fe High overwhelms visiting Los Alamos
By Arnie Leshin
Playing at Pojoaque Valley is not home, sweet home for the Pecos boy’s basketball team, but it sure is the place that brings it tournament championships.
Saturday night the Panthers wrapped up the title in the Northern Rio Grande tournament to follow on the heels of their Ben Lujan Memorial tournament championship, both over Mora.
It was in the Ben Lujan tourney and 91-54 in the Rio Grande, and in between these two finals on the Elks’ court, it was Pecos handily defeating the Rangers, 78-50, for the Tri-Cities tournament title at Santa Rosa,
This time, it was the same formula and it didn’t take long for Pecos’ defending state 3A champions to take charge as it played the Rangers for the sixth time in two years, winning all three after losing three times to Mora in the 2014-2015 season.
Now 12-2, the Panthers applied their pressure defense quickly, and it led to bad passes, hurried, bad shots, and turnovers. By the third quarter, the Rangers looked spent in trying to keep pace.
But Mora (8-7) did overcome a 16-6 deficit by closing to 16-12 in the second quarter. But as Pecos pushed forward, the Rangers had run out of comebacks and fell behind 46-25 at halftime.
Earlier, Panthers 6-foot junior wing Mario Archuelta came away with a 4-point play after tossing in a 3, getting fouled, and converting for a 28-17 lead with four minutes left in the first half.
Third place went to Espanola McCurdy (9-6) in a 54-51 triumph over Escalante (7-7). In the clash for fifth, it was Mesa Vista (7-6) winning 59-51 over Dulce, which dropped to 5-6. For seventh place, Penasco (8-7) rolled over Questa, which is now 1-11.
In a non district game at Santa Fe High, the home team had an impressive first half in gaining a 62-36 victory over Los Alamos. A 20-3 run brought a 37-18 lead and the Demons never looked back. They made good on 7-for-13 3s in improving to 7-8 and dropping the Hilltoppers to 8-8.
Also in a non district contest of the Bean Valley Conference tournament, Monte del Sol claimed fifth place by defeating Albuquerque Cottonwood Classical Prep, 81-67. It was the eighth win in a dozen starts for the Dragons, with a tight game until the fourth quarter that saw Monte del Sol go on a 28-13 run to win going away over the 5-6 Cougars.
