Rehoboth Christian edges Jal in 2A quarters: Lynx to play No. 2 seed Pecos Friday

REHOBOTH, N.M.

In a wild finish, the Rehoboth Christian boys’ basketball kept its two-peat aspirations alive on Wednesday night.

The Lynx survived a late surge from Jal to advance into the Class 2A state semifinals with a 48-47 win.

The game on Tuesday was a rematch of last season’s state title game.

With just over seven minutes left, the third-seeded Lynx had built a 40-30 cushion, but Jal came roaring back.

“When you get to this level, every team is good,” Rehoboth coach Kevin Zwiers said. “Every team, they’ve got pride. They’re not going to give up, and we knew that about Jal.

“We went up by 10, and then they made a run,” he said, “but we were tough enough mentally, physically, and we made enough plays down the stretch to win a basketball game.”

The sixth-seeded Panthers cut into that 10-point late in the fourth, with junior guard Jacob Lujan scoring seven of his 16 points in the game’s final 43 seconds.

He made two free throws, and his trey pulled the Panthers within 46-44 with 17 seconds left to go.

At the other end, Rehoboth got a pair of free throws from senior Talon West to go up by four, but the Panthers punched back with Lujan nailing another long-range shot with four seconds.

The basket by the Jal player initially counted as a 3-point shot by the scorekeeper, but it was later changed to a two when the Panthers got Ethan Sandoval to the free-throw line with one-tenth of a second after a steal.

That one-point adjustment made the score 48-46 as Zwiers used back-to-back timeouts to ice Sandoval.

The Jal point guard missed the first, and he inadvertently made the second as the Panthers ran out of time.

“Might as well make him think about those free throws as many times possible,” Zwiers said.

The Lynx had to contend with size for much of the night, particularly Rogelio Carreon, a 300-pound 6-5 post.

Carreon, who is headed to Boise State on a full-ride scholarship in the fall, paced Jal with 17 points.

“When you say size, they’re massive,” Zwiers said of the Panthers. “I mean, we’re not just talking about size and being un-athletic. He’s incredibly athletic.”

Zwiers said other athletes on the Jal team made it difficult for his team to match up with.

“They’re all fantastic athletes,” he said. “I’m real proud of my guys for battling. Obviously, they had size on us. We talked about it before the game. It’s like if we can just hang in there in the rebounding game, we’ve got a chance.”

West led the Lynx as he poured in a game-best 21 points while Mato Chapman added 10.

Rehoboth will play No. 2 seed Pecos on Friday night at the Rio Rancho Events Center at 5:30 p.m.

“Pecos (plays) a speedy game, they kind of get up-and-down the court with a lot of pressing,” Zwiers said. “We can also play an up and down game. I think our defense can do what it needs to do.”

---