It was an opportunity that had been in the waiting for three years for Jody Atencio and the Santa Fe Indian School Braves.

As the forward stepped to the line for two free throws with 59 seconds left of a key District 2AAA boys basketball game against West Las Vegas, he knew this might be the last chance for the Braves to make a dent in the district standings.

SFIS was nursing a 65-60 lead and the Dons were on a 23-4 charge to have a chance at stealing a huge road win Friday in Francis L. Abeyta Memorial Gymnasium.

Atencio knew it was no time to think bad thoughts.

"I just had to be confident and put them in," Atencio said. "No pressure."

He calmly sank two free throws, and another by C.J. Brown iced a
68-64 win that should not have been that close.

But for a program that had toiled near the bottom of the 2AAA standings the last two seasons, seeing itself at 3-3 after an 0-3 start had to give SFIS (11-10) hope that it wouldn't have to wait another year to change its course.

"I'll tell you what, I love the team we have," SFIS head coach Ernie Rodriguez said. "They're hard workers and they want to learn. There's a lot of things working against them, but they aren't particularly concerned with that."

What should be of concern for the Braves is the fashion in which they let most of a 61-37 third-quarter lead dissipate into the night.

SFIS punished the Dons with a physical press that coaxed 21 West Las Vegas turnovers and fed the Braves' transition game.

The Braves also were patient on the offensive side and looking for teammates. When Darren Pedro hit a hook shot from eight feet, the lead was 24 points.

"When we're playing well, we're controlling things to our liking," Rodriguez said. "When our self-discipline breaks down, that's all it takes for a team that is bigger and more experienced to take advantage of us."

The Dons (13-9, 3-3) certainly were bigger, but this was not the team that reached the Class AAA state championship in March 2008.

They still had 6-foot-5 senior
post Adrian Rivera, who pumped in 25 points, but the rest of the team lacked his experience.

And scorers.

Fabian Varela, a transfer from Las Vegas Robertson from over the summer, stepped up in a supporting role and scored 14 of his 19 points during the closing run.

Most of his points came on putbacks off of his five offensive rebounds.

He scored five straight points off of them — three free throws and a layup — in the fourth to get West Las Vegas to within 65-60.

"It was nice for Fabian to step up," Dons head coach Morgan Montaño said. "Adrian didn't quite have the game he should have. He had a lot of turnovers and those things hurt us. But it was nice for Fabian to step up because we're going to need him down the stretch."

SFIS contributed to its own problems by breaking down on offense.

In its place were guards who either jacked up 3-pointers or tried to drive to the basket.

Jordan Naranjo, who played the second half with a high right ankle sprain, had 21 points, but turned the ball over three times in the final 5 minutes while trying to attack the rim.

"They seemed to be focused on getting their points instead of getting the team some points," Rodriguez said.

Eventually, Atencio put a stop to the run and the Braves find themselves with a chance at making a difference once the district tournament starts in two weeks.