SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
It’s a match-up of 2A boys state champions when 2nd-seeded Pecos meets up with reigning 3rd-seeded champion RehobothChristian in Friday night‘s semifinals at the Rio Rancho Events Center, with the tip-off scheduled for 5:30.
While Rehoboth (22-3) was surviving a tough 48-47 win over 6th-seeded Jal in Tuesday’s quarterfinals at its Gallup court, streaking Pecos (22-6) picked up its 11th straight victory as it sets its sights on a sixth state title.
But if the Panthers win it again, it won’t be under Ira Harge, Jr., who resigned after the fourth celebration in a row and handing the reigns to former assistant coach Arthur Gonzales.
“I’m looking forward to maybe hoisting the championship blue trophy,” Gonzales says, “I’ve been there for the other four, but not the one in 1966 when we won for the first time. We’ve got the usual talented group, some even taking the court for those title games.”
Hagerman, the 7th-seed at 17-4, had won its first 11 starts until the soft schedule became tougher, and at Pecos it scored the game’s first basket and then watched the Panthers go on a 21-5 run to end the opening quarter with a 21-7 football score.
“We also scored 21 in the second quarter,” Gonzales says, “and we were up 42-30 at the half.”
From there, the lead became 55-38 after three quarters as Pecos outscored the visitors 32-13 in the second half, with a 19-5 stretch run before the usual huge turnout at the Panthers’ court. i
Pecos also got its usual balanced attack, with 6-foot-1 junior Sandoval heaving the team-high 17 points to go with four rebounds and a pair of assists, with 5-10 junior Padilla tossing 16 points, taking down four bounds, handing out five assists and coming away with four steals. His brother Xavier won state his last two years.
Then there was Gonzales’ younger son, 5-9 sophomore Goshua whose brother Devin was the point guard all four years, and he turned in 15 points grabbed four rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, and had three steals.
“What I remember when seeing Rehoboth play last season,” Coach Gonzales says, “they were very disciplined, looked for good shots, played smart defense, and we could expect a tough game.”
The other 2A semis has top-seeded Tularosa (26-2) taking on 5th-seeded Albuquerque Menaul (21-4), which ousted 4th-seed Escalante, 61-56, while Tularosa got past 8th-seeded Estancia, 64-51, and will now face Menaul at 11:30 a.m. Friday.
