Robertson stuns Tohatchi girls in wild finish

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – This one is going to sting for a while.

In a stunning exit, the Tohatchi Lady Cougars were eliminated from the New Mexico Class 3A girls state playoffs on Tuesday night.

In what can be aptly described as a chaotic finish, the Robertson Lady Cardinals wiped away an eight-point deficit and outscored the Cougars 12-2 in the game’s final 60 seconds for a mind-boggling 43-41 come-from-behind win.

Robertson hit a pair of big 3s to regain the momentum, but the Cardinals also received a huge break when Tohatchi coach Tanisha Bitsoi called for a timeout when they didn’t have one in the midst of that frenzied finish.

“It seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong,” Bitsoi said. “As a coach, I have never been a part of something like that. It’s very frustrating and it’s heartbreaking, knowing that we should have won that game.

“I don’t want to take anything away from them because the girls played hard,” she added. “But, you know, that’s part of competition and that’s part of life.”

And while she remained proud of her players’ effort, the longtime Tohatchi coach showed sympathy for her five seniors.

“For our seniors, this is not the way for them to go out,” Bitsoi said. “It’s very unfortunate. As we explained to them, that is how things go sometimes. It’s very hurtful for me to have them go out this way.

“We’re all emotional,” she added. “I’m still in shock.”

After leading 37-31 with 2:41 left, the Bitsoi-coached team tried to kill some clock. They were partly successful with that, as Robertson had to foul to put Tohatchi on the line. A pair of free throws from junior Maddie Pasquale put the Cougars up 39-31 with exactly a minute left.

That was when all the chaos broke loose as Robertson got a rare four-point play from senior guard Natalie Martinez with 53 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds, the Cardinal locked in on their defensive end and trapped the ball as Bitsoi called a time out that she didn’t have.

That infraction resulted in a technical foul as Martinez hit 1-of-2 free throws for her 14th point as Robertson regained possession of the ball. The Cardinals pulled within 39-38 on pair of clutch free throws from Natalie’s sister, Arianna, as that sequence completed a seven-point swing for Robertson.

But the Cardinals were not done yet, as they got the ball back with a Tohatchi turnover. The person inbounding the ball inadvertently threw it off the back end of the back board.

Robertson capitalized on that turnover with Arianna sinking a 3 for a 41-39 cushion with 31 seconds left.

“We could have quit when we were down eight with about a minute left,” Robertson coach Jose Medina said. “But defense disrupts offenses, it throws them off rhythm. You know, they threw one off the backboard when they were trying to rush their pass.

“I’m proud of our girls,” he added. “We did a great job on defending; we were playing with heart and we did not giving up in that last minute of the game.”

As for Tohatchi’s technical, Medina said that was a gift as that kept their momentum going.

“We got fortunate with them not having a time out when they called the time out,” Medina said. “And before that, I think Natalia hit a four-point play and then they called the time out, so we cut it down to three.

“My hats off to Tohatchi,” he added. “They had a great season and they battled us and it was a tough game today.”

The Cougars were led by juniors Maddie Pasquale and Shylynn Johnson as the finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Johnson also added nine boards.

“I played for the seniors because I’ve never bonded with any other team than these guys,” Johnson said. “I really wanted to win for my seniors because we’re not getting these seniors back next year, so I wanted to play my heart out.”

Two of those seniors – WynterRose Sheka and Kayanna Capitan – expressed their gratitude to coach Bitsoi and the Tohatchi program. For the past four seasons, they have been the face of the successful program as they were part of the state championship team in 2023 and the state runner-up squad in 2024.

“The last five years has really shaped me to the person I am today,” Sheka said. “I’m very thankful for my coach, who has coached me since my eighth grade year. She really taught me a lot, and I hope to keep using her quotes that she uses every day at practice throughout my life. And I’m very thankful to be here and to play with the last minutes of my last high school game.”

“The past four years has been great,” Capitan said with her voice cracking. “It was a good opportunity for me, and playing for this program has taught me a lot. It will help me to continue to grow in my life. I know this isn’t the way we wanted to go out, but it was fun.”

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