Suddenly, the Capital High Jaguars are not afterthoughts in the District 2AAAA boys basketball standings. At least after Monday night.

Just 48 hours after taking an 84-55 beating at the hands of district leading Española Valley, Capital put itself back into the race for second place, thanks to a 56-52 win over Los Alamos in Edward A. Ortiz Gymnasium.

But as great as the win was for the Jaguars, who had lost eight of their last 10 games before this upset, it means nothing without backing it up. It could go all for naught if the Spartans of Bernalillo beat Capital today.

"We can't slip," Capital head coach Mark Senteney said. "We have to be strong mentally. We have to take care of these next two games."

Following Bernalillo is a matchup with Taos on Friday. Any loss would undo what Capital did to the sixth-ranked team in the state according to last week's New Mexico High School Coaches Association poll.

Capital almost did the job itself, as the Hilltoppers cut into a 40-28 Capital lead entering the fourth quarter and got to within 54-52 on senior center Alex Kirk's 3-pointer from the left wing with 16 seconds left on the clock.

After a Los Alamos timeout, Capital designed an inbounds play to get the ball to hot-shooting forward Reece Goodman. But the ball never touched him and his 28 points. Instead, it went to junior post Estevan Martinez, who was immediately fouled.

Faced with the biggest 1-and-1 free-throw situation in his life, Martinez was deliberate in his actions.

"I went up there and took up as much time as I could," Martinez said. "I took my time and I had confidence."

He calmly drained both shots for 56-52. A missed Kirk shot and an Isaiah Bustamante rebound later, Capital celebrated its biggest win of the season.

Bustamante could take a big chunk of credit for it. His defense of Zach Parks kept the Los Alamos guard racing around the court trying to pry him loose. He managed just four points after scoring four of his team's first seven points.

"Poor Isaiah," Senteney said. "He was working hard, and he had to exert a lot of energy."

The Jaguars exerted plenty of energy on the defensive side. They forced three straight turnovers in the second quarter to forge a 19-15 lead on Goodman's triple from the left wing with 4:04 to go in the first half. It was the second of five 3s the senior hit after sitting in the stands for the Española game for his ejection from the Jan. 30 game against Albuquerque St. Pius X.

Even though the halftime talk in the Los Alamos locker room focused heavily on Goodman, the Hilltoppers still couldn't contain him. He went loose for 12 points in the third quarter, including a wing 3 at the quarter buzzer for 40-28.

"We didn't come to play," Los Alamos head coach Alan Kirk said. "We just didn't have the desire. You can never come down here with your guard down and I think we did."

It took the junior Kirk and his 19 second-half points to get Los Alamos to the brink of pulling of a much needed comeback. He kept paced with Goodman and scored 12 in the third, and when his teammates came with the support in the fourth, the Hilltoppers chipped away. Wade Archuleta had four points in the fourth, Kirk Webber had a layup, while Parks and Brandon Owens each hit a pair of free throws.

Los Alamos got to within 47-43 on an Alex Kirk free throws and 50-46 on Archuleta's backdoor layup with 3:02 left. Capital also committed five turnovers in the quarter to aid in the Hilltoppers' rally, but then Jonathon Rodriguez came up with back-to-back layups for 54-47 with 1:16 left.

It might have been the biggest sign the Jaguars have turned a corner.

"It was a significant win for our program," Senteney said. "The guys could have folded that 12-point, but they hung in there."

At least for one night.

Tonight could be another story.