Pine Hill tops rival To’hajiilee in district tourney finale

PINE HILL, N.M. – The To’hajiilee Warriors needed a win to keep their postseason aspirations alive. It was not to be.

The Pine Hill Warriors (19-8), already assured a spot in the state tournament, fortified their status as the team to beat in District 1-1A . On Saturday night Pine Hill was crowned the district tournament champion after holding off To’hajiilee,59-51, on its homecourt, which extended its winning streak to 11 games.

The hometown Warriors built a 20-point halftime lead (36-16) before first-year Pine Hill coach Earlson Tso cleared his bench in the waning moments of the fourth stanza.

To’hajiilee jumped on that act of mercy with a 14-1 run in the last 1:29, making the outcome appear closer than it actually was.

“We wanted to come out strong,” Tso said. “The guys wanted to win so that is how we were able to dominate the first half.”

By virtue of winning the regular season district campaign, Pine Hill had already secured its spot in the 1A playoffs as the Johnson-coached team earned the No. 11 seed.

To’hajiilee, on the other hand, entered Saturday’s game needing to secure its spot under third-year coach Jonathan Johnson.

“We could have done a lot more at pressuring the ball,” Johnson said. “A lot of what we practiced for wasn’t executed. We just fell short but at the same time our shots were not falling.”

To’hajiilee was one of a handful of deserving 1A teams that was left out of the playoffs as the Johnson-coached team finished the year with an 18-8 mark, which includes a 6-2 record in district play.

“We had a good season,” Johnson said. “We won a lot of our games leading up to the Striking Eagle tournament in Albuquerque, but our kids were facing a lot of pressure trying to keep the winning streak going.

“Last year we won the district, but we came up short this year,” he added. “We have to come back stronger and better for next season.”

To’hajiilee led only once, when junior Jamen Werito put up a contested shot at the 6:52 mark of the opening quarter for a 2-0 lead.

Pine Hill then scored 23 of the next 27 points with five players contributing. Senior forward Ezekiel Martinez led that charge with six points while junior Channing James and sophomore Clifferrol Jake added five apiece during that run.

Junior Brandon Andrews (seven points) and senior Brett Baker (four) picked up the scoring slack for Pine Hill in the next quarter as the hometown Warriors seized a 36-16 halftime cushion.

That margin was pushed to as much as 51-26 late in the third period.

“We always start off strong at home,” said Channing James, the district’s MVP. “You know, To’hajiilee has been our main rival. They’re a good team. They have some good players; I’m just glad that we were able to beat our rivals.”

Pine Hill was still leading comfortably when senior point guard Emilio Jake hit a two-point shot with 1:56 left in the fourth stanza.

After that, the Pine Hill coach cleared his bench as To’hajiilee went on a furious rally as it nailed four treys.

“This rivalry is always intense,” Tso said. “Our main focus was to beat To’hajiilee, and we did that with a team effort.”

Nine players from Pine Hill scored, with Baker putting up a team-best 15 points. James added 10 while Martinez and Andrews added eight apiece.

For To’hajiilee, sophomore Khyran Guerro finished with a game-best 19 points, but nine of his points were scored in the last 1:29 of the contest. Junior JayTee Nelson chipped in 17 and senior Jacob Belone added nine.

As for the playoffs, the Pine Hill coach was hoping to get one of the top eight seeds as that would have guaranteed the Warriors a home state playoff game.

“I believe we should have been a higher seed after beating No. 8 Cliff on their home court midseason,” Tso said. “That win really motivated our team and we went on a 11-game winning streak.

“Overall, we’re happy to be the 11 seed,” he added. “We can’t wait to have our fans come out and support us. It’s been a long time since the Pine Hill boys have won a first-round state playoff game.”

Like his coach, James said he’s looking forward to the playoffs.

“Everybody considers us the underdogs,” James said. “They didn’t think we were going to beat Cliff. They thought they were going to run over us. We started off strong and we surprised them.

“Everybody called that a fluke, but we went on and beat Laguna,” he added. “We have a lot of guys that can score. That is what we talk about every time because you can’t win games behind one person.”

The Pine Hill guard said it took some time for the team to gel as they started the season with a 6-7 record.

“We learned that the hard way,” James said. “We started off slow and then we connected. We got everybody involved and now everybody is on the scoreboard.

“We’re all doing well,” he added. “We want to try and make some noise and get as far as we can.”

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