Farmington boys claim Wingate Holiday Classic crown

FRUITLAND, N.M.

The crowd was loud, the score was close, and the pressure was on.

It was the kind of situation the Farmington High School boys’ basketball team was looking forward to all weekend, and they finally got it in the championship game of the Wingate Holiday Classic boys’ basketball tournament held Dec. 17-19.

The Scorpions cruised their way through the first two rounds but met their match with Wingate in the finals, where they were tested in all parts of their game.

Farmington head coach Paul Corley said the way his team pressed through the intensity of the game showed great character of his still-growing squad.

“Because of the atmosphere at Wingate, the crowd, it’s going to help us when we get in those games later with Gallup and Piedra Vista,” he said. “The kids really got to lean on each other especially in those tight moments. Those two tournaments we’ve won this year so far, that’s a great step forward for our program.”

The Scorpions were coming off of a big win after taking their tournament title the weekend before.

And while they may have had some close games, Corley said they’ve persevered, just as they did with Wingate.

Wingate took early control of the game with a 10-7 lead over Farmington in the first quarter, but the two teams kept things close the whole way through.

At the half, Wingate led 25-24.

As things came down to the wire, Corley said his team had some hiccups that Wingate capitalized on.

“We missed some crucial free throws, gave them opportunities to hit some threes,” he said.

Farmington missed a 1-and-1 opportunity but Wingate blew a bigger opportunity to tie the game when they missed a layup at the buzzer.

Corley said it was the kind of game they needed after cruising through most of the tournament.

“We really needed a game like that because the first two games we won by 30-plus,” Corley said. “The first two games we really worked on just getting good starts.”

Farmington met Hot Springs in the first round and defeated them 73-54 and then district rival Miyamura, who they defeated 77-44.

Corley said his team spent the first two games working on various parts of their game, including how they start.

He said the team is ranked No.6 in 5A throughout the state, which means they’ve got to use whatever time they can to keep up.

“Those two games, we were just coming out getting really good solid starts,” he said. “I told the kids everybody’s going to bring their best game on us. We just got to be a little bit more sure at the end of the game.”

David Riley and Nicholas Granger were named to the all-tournament team while Clayton Corley was named tournament MVP.

Wingate head coach Al Martinez did not return messages left by deadline.

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