Rehoboth Christian closes strong, defeats Tohatchi 56–45 to win tourney championship

By Lee Begaye
Special to the Times

REHOBOTH — For the second time in five days, Tohatchi and host Rehoboth Christian met on the hardwood. This time, the Lynx flipped the script.

Behind senior Trajen West and sophomore Simon Frederiksen, Rehoboth controlled the pace, dominated the glass, and used a decisive fourth quarter to defeat the Cougars 56–45 and claim the Rehoboth Christian Basketball Tournament championship. The win also snapped a three-game losing streak to Tohatchi.

West finished with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and added five assists. Sophomore Simon Frederiksen delivered a breakout performance that bent the game in Rehoboth’s favor. He finished a double-double with 13 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, and five assists, controlling the paint and dictating the tempo in ways that Tohatchi struggled to counter. Seven of his points came in the decisive fourth quarter.

Tohatchi junior DeAndre Rios led the Cougars with 16 points, hitting three shots from beyond the arc.

The rematch looked nothing like Tuesday’s meeting, when Tohatchi raced out to an 11–0 start and never trailed. Rehoboth instead slowed the tempo, fed its size inside, and leaned on Frederiksen and junior Jadon Ippel to control the boards.

The opening quarter was even, with Rehoboth taking a 15–13 lead into the second. Rios hit a pair of 3s for six points, while West scored five for the Lynx.

Rehoboth built a 27–17 advantage late in the second quarter before Tohatchi trimmed the margin to 31–25 at halftime. West scored six in the frame, while Tohatchi senior Myka Candeleria added five.

Tohatchi came out of the break with renewed energy, sparking a 9–2 run fueled by loose-ball scrambles and three made 3-pointers. The Cougars took a 34–33 lead with 4:30 left in the third before Rehoboth junior Cayden Kenny took over. Kenny buried three crucial 3s in the final minutes of the quarter, responding to every Tohatchi push and breaking a 41–41 tie with his final triple. His nine-point burst sent the Lynx into the fourth with a 44–41 lead. Candeleria scored six in the quarter to keep Tohatchi close.

The deciding blow came in the final four minutes. After Rios sliced the baseline for a reverse, no-look layup to pull Tohatchi within 46–45, the Cougars went cold. Their final six possessions produced three missed shots and three turnovers, opening the door for Rehoboth’s 12–4 closing run.

Rehoboth Christian head coach Kevin Zwiers said winning their own tournament carried special meaning.

“We’re excited about this one,” he said. “It’s been a number of years since we last won our own tournament.”

Zwiers added that the rematch with Tohatchi showed how quickly his team responded to Tuesday’s loss.

“In the first matchup we really struggled to score, but tonight we were able to score from all over the floor,” he said. “The boys made the right adjustments.”

He pointed to the balanced scoring as part of that improvement.

“If you look at it, Trajen got us going in the first, Jadon stepped up in the second, and Kenny hit those threes in the third,” he said. “That’s what we want, everyone contributing.”

Zwiers said the defensive game plan mattered just as much.

“We made sure they didn’t get transition points,” he said. “We wanted the game at our pace, and the boys stuck to it.”

Tohatchi head coach Kendall Livingston called the game a teaching moment while taking accountability for the loss.

“We knew they were going to make adjustments,” he said. “This game was a learning lesson. We tried to play a more structured offense and match their game.

“I do take responsibility for the loss,” he added. “We could have pushed harder, created more space, and attacked defensively.”

Tohatchi (4–1) bounced back with a 59–52 win over Bloomfield on Tuesday and they will travel to Cuba (1–1) on Friday. Rehoboth Christian (3–1) returns home to face unbeaten Montezuma-Cortez (2–0) on Thursday.

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