RIO RANCHO — It's not often that you see coaches and players who've just lost a game in the boys state basketball tournament enter a room with heads held high.

But that's exactly how first-year Mora head coach Hank Laumbach, senior Leo Paul Pacheco and junior Justin Vigil entered the interview room in the Santa Ana Star Center on Wednesday, after the eighth-seeded Rangers fell to No. 1 Mesilla Valley Christian School 102-60 in a Class AA quarterfinal.

"Coming to the state tournament, it's just an honor to be here," Laumbach said. "We consider ourselves part of the Elite 8 regardless of who we play. To put it in perspective, to see Mora as part of the championship bracket is a beautiful thing. We brought the pride and spirit of the Mora Rangers back to the valley."

The Rangers entered 2009-10 after a rancorous off-season that saw their former coach, Manuel Romero, leave to coach soon-to-be rivals Peñasco, when the Mora head coach position was opened to other candidates.

Pacheco, who scored a team-high 18 points in his final game, said the run to a District 4AA championship and into the state tournament helped get the community back behind the Rangers.

"Getting the community behind us was a big step," Pacheco said. "We had lost a lot of fans after last year and this year we got a lot of them back. The Ranger Pride came back. The Rangers went to state. It's a whole new program."

Mora, which finished the season 15-14, entered district play with a 7-12 record but won seven of their last eight games to claim the regular season title.

The Rangers then defeated Pecos in the district championship game and edged Rehoboth 72-71 at home in the Round of 16 to earn their first trip to Albuquerque area since 2005.

The road to Rio Rancho and the Elite Eight was not an easy one, said Laumbach. But it was worth the journey.

"We have only three seniors and we overcame a lot of adversity," he said. "There were times in the season where we could've easily given up on each other. But I preached family and preaching family really brought us together and paid off big time."

Until Mesilla Valley.

The Son Blazers (25-1) quickly came out and established the tempo and timbre of the game, reeling off the first 11 points as the Rangers struggled. Trailing 29-10 after the first quarter, Mora cut the deficit to 29-14 but would get no closer, trailing 53-27 at halftime and 72-37 after three quarters.

Pacheco said he considered the season a success, especially with the team winning a district title — the first championship of his career.

"Prior to this year and other years before other than pee wee league, I'd never won a championship in my life," he said, sharing fist bumps with Laumbach and Vigil. "This year was my first year I earned a district championship and I'm glad I won it with the team I played with.

"We might not have won the (state) championship. And getting here was a struggle. But we did it."