Gallup holds off Kirtland Central

GALLUP

For all the gains they made during the early part of the season, the Gallup boys’ basketball team seemed to have taken a step back in their latest win against Class 4A Kirtland Central on Dec. 23.

That is according to first-year coach Richard Rangel Jr., as the Bengals survived a scare before posting a dramatic 61-57 win.

For one half of play, Rangel felt that the concepts and the fundamentals they learned fell to the wayside as the Broncos wiped away a 15-point deficit and tied the game at 41-all heading into the fourth quarter.

“For a lack of a better word, we were mediocre,” the first-year Gallup coach said. “We’re a lot better team than that. We had some ugly turnovers and we missed some layups. Those are stuff we work on in practice and it’s stuff that is key for us.”

Despite struggling to get on the same page, the Bengals played well enough down the stretch to hold off Kirtland Central as the Broncos got a huge three-point shot from sophomore guard Jariah Setzer with 1:13 to go.

That basket pulled KC within 56-54 before Gallup hit 3-of-4 free throws in the next 41 seconds to build a five-point cushion. The Broncos, however, hit another trey as Bernal Miller’s baseline three hit nothing but net with 20 seconds left in regulation.

With a two-point lead, Gallup senior Colten Lowley sealed the victory by going 2-for-2 at the charity line for his 18th and 19th point.

“I thought we hit some big free throws late, we did get a key rebound when we needed to,” Rangel said. “We just have to get better. We’ll build from this.”

KC coach Brian Dowdy said an “unlikely crew” brought them back, and afterward he commended his club for taking Gallup down to the wire.

“I told them that ‘don’t you dare hang your head,’” he said. “This place is a tough to play in the state and we knew what we were up against.”

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