Hilltoppers rally past rival Demons
By The New Mexican |Posted: 2/7/2012, 10:00 PM Mountain time
If it looked familiar to Los Alamos, that's because it was.
Santa Fe High can attest to that after Tuesday night.
Once again, the Hilltoppers rallied past their District 2AAAA rival, turning a 22-13 deficit into a 47-41 win in Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium. The margin was as big as 14 points in the second half, but Los Alamos went on a 22-4 run to erase it.
This was practically the same scenario that took place in Los Alamos on Jan. 21, as the Hilltoppers overcame a 33-24 halftime deficit in a 58-50 win. Those two comebacks represent their only two district wins, but it also serves as a moment of growth.
"This team is learning perseverance," said Fil Dominguez, Los Alamos head coach. "We're starting to learn how to handle adversity, and when you're down 14 on the road, you learn a lot about adversity."
Los Alamos (9-15, 2-4 2AAAA) also learned a lot about making free throws, as it made 19 of 22 tries from the stripe.
For Santa Fe High (6-17, 2-4), it was another in a long line of frustrating losses.
"Apparently, I am not doing a good job of getting the guys to finish off jobs," said David Rodriguez, Demons head coach. "I haven't done a good job of molding these young men into a mentally tough basketball team. They have six wins, I have 17 losses."
Thomas Russell led the Hilltoppers with 18 points, while Elliot Nicholas paced the Demons with 15.
CAPITAL 59, ESPAñOLA VALLEY 40
The magic number is now one for the Jaguars after handling the four-time defending district champion Sundevils in the second half in Edward A. Ortiz Memorial Gymnasium.
If Capital (18-5, 5-0) beats Bernalillo at Spartan Alley on Friday, the Jaguars will win their first regular-season title since 2005. The Jaguars led by only 22-17 at the half, but they poured in 37 second-half points.
Mike Lopez led the way for Capital with 14 points, while Christian Martinez and Brian Vigil both added 12. Ryan Vigil, Bryan's twin brother, scored 11.
DESERT ACADEMY 53, MOUNTAINAIR 52
The Wildcats were missing three players, including two frontline starters, for the District 2A matchup, but that's when they revealed a quality they have lacked -- depth.
Thanks to Spencer Humphries' 25 points and 14 rebounds -- his seventh double-double of the season -- and 12 points from Alex Redmond, Desert Academy (4-14, 3-7) built a 39-30 lead after three quarters. Mountainair cut the margin to two twice in the fourth, but could not trim it any further until the final basket at the buzzer.
"We're slowly building the program," said Jonathan Salazar, Wildcats head coach. "We're just an extremely young team, so we're kind of going back and forth between playing really well and taking our lumps. But we are a lot deeper than we were last year."
ST. MICHAEL'S 39, POJOAQUE VALLEY 29
The Horsemen snapped their two-game District 5AAA losing streak by slowly building upon each quarter's success in Ben Luján Gymnasium.
St. Michael's (18-5, 4-2) led 8-4 after one quarter, 21-14 at the half, and 30-19 entering the fourth quarter.
Matt Barela and Antonio Garcia led the way with 12 points for the Horsemen. Pojoaque had Derrick Velasquez score seven.
SANTA FE PREPARATORY 64, PEñASCO 56
Welcome to the big time, Blue Griffins.
They took a 19-5 lead after a quarter in Peñasco and were never really threatened the rest of the way as they set up a showdown with Mora for the District 2AA lead in Prep Gymnasium on Friday.
Prep (18-4, 4-1) led 36-25 at the half and 49-36 entering the fourth before Peñasco cut the margin to six at one point.
Ryan Evaldson scored 24 points for the Blue Griffins, while Joey Lambert had 13, Dan Van Essen 11 and Will Lenfestey 10.
Ramon Romero paced Peñasco with 13 points, while Keith Romero added 11.
SANTA FE WALDORF 42, N.M. SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF 27
The Wolves started strong and finished stronger in a road win against the Roadrunners in a District 1B game in Larson Gym.
Waldorf (11-7, 1-1) led 16-5 at the end of the first quarter, then turned a 30-23 lead entering the fourth quarter into a comfortable district victory.
Daniel McCormick led three Wolves in double figures with 13 points. Edgar Davila had 12 and Elliot Radsliff 10. Anrick Carroll had a team-high nine points for NMSD.
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