Tularosa holds off Lynx in tourney finale

By Santiago Ramos Jr.
Special to the Times

REHOBOTH, N.M. – Tularosa made its first trip to the Rehoboth Christian Invitational a memorable one.

The Wildcats held off tourney host Rehoboth Christian, sinking four straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to escape with a 58-53 win Saturday night in the championship finals.

Tularosa was coming off an unbelievable 62-61 comeback win over Tohatchi Friday night in the semifinals after trailing by 25 points in the third quarter.

“I told the boys they couldn’t give up,” said Tularosa head coach Sergio Castanon, who returns his entire squad. “They just had to play hard. We had to have some heart and they just kept playing. The ball bounced our way a couple of times and I’m just proud of them not giving up because it would have been very easy for them to hang their heads and give up right there.”

This time in the tourney finals, Tularosa came close to blowing a comfortable lead of its own with a 14-point cushion in the third quarter that vanished against the hard-charging Lynx.

“This time I was on the other end,” Castanon said. “The game comes in waves. That’s why it’s such a beautiful game. When they (Rehoboth Christian) tied it and then we got to the bench to start the fourth (quarter), we just told the boys to relax. It’s a game of runs and it’s our turn to go on a run and that’s what they did.”

The unbeaten Wildcats (4-0) clung to a slim 52-49 lead with just over three minutes left in the championship game. Rehoboth senior Raeden West, who scored all 17 of his points in the second half including a perfect 9-for-9 from the line, buried two free throws to make it a one-point game, 52-51.

Tularosa junior Adrius Guilez then went inside for a score that gave the Wildcats a three-point edge.

Trying to tie the score in the final minute, Rehoboth Christian (4-1) launched three treys by senior West and Kaleb Vail, who poured in a game-high 24 points that included five treys. But Vail was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. With time running out the Lynx were forced to foul.

That sent junior Fabian Pacheco and the Wildcats to the charity stripe twice with the bonus with two shots on each trip. Pacheco, who pumped in all 14 of his points in the second half, went a perfect 4-for-4 with just under :24 remaining.

“He was huge this weekend,” Castanon said of Pacheco, who was named to the all-tourney team. “Those free throws were huge last night (against Tohatchi) and then tonight they were huge, too. It kind of gave us some breathing room. He was money from the line.”

In the final :20 the Lynx’s West was called for a crucial offensive foul, while trey attempts by Vail and West’s younger brother, Trajen, did not find their mark.

Trajen West’s basket in the final seconds only narrowed the final margin to five points as the Wildcats grabbed the championship trophy for the long, five-hour drive south to Tularosa, which is just north of Alamogordo.

Rehoboth Christian head coach Kevin Zwiers said that Tularosa was tough.

“Their dribble penetration gave us problems,” Zwiers said. “Some of their outside shooters gave us problems. We switched our defense a couple of times but he (Salazar) played really well.”

In the first half, Tularosa took command of the game.

The Wildcats built a 17-7 cushion early in the opening quarter on treys by Estevan Barraza and senior Dillon Salazar, who led the team with 19 points on five treys. Salazar would be named tourney MVP.

The Lynx stormed back as Vail reeled off his team’s next 10 points that included successive threes that cut the lead down to three, 20-17. But Wildcat Jalen Randall nailed a pair of treys that halted Rehoboth Christian’s surge. Tularosa’s Seth Kazhe scored on an in-bounds and then added an old-fashioned three-point play that widened the Wildcat lead.

The Lynx battled back in the third quarter hitting on 7-of-12 from the field with no turnovers. That flawless stretch wiped out a 14-point Wildcat advantage, as Vail tied up the contest by burying a trey from the right corner.

Zwiers said his team always shows up in the second half.

“We’ve done that every game so far this year except for one,” said Zwiers, whose squad returns three starters. “They play really well in the second half. We’ve been behind most games. We come out strong. I’m really proud of the great effort. We’re down some guys right now.”

Rehoboth Christian slipped into the lead for the first time 43-42 on a basket by Raeden West early in the fourth quarter. But threes by Pacheco and Salazar gave the lead back to the visiting Wildcats for good.

The Lynx went ice-cold in the fourth quarter, hitting on just 2-of-11 from the field. In comparison the Wildcats hit 6-of-9 along with those key 4-for-4 from the free throw line to seal the championship trophy.

For the game, Tularosa was just 5-of-7 from the line while Rehoboth Christian was 10-of- 11.

Tularosa finished with 45 percent shooting from the field, 22-of-49 while Rehoboth Christian shot 41 percent, 18-of 44.

Rehoboth Christian will host Navajo Prep Saturday.

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