Santa Fe Indian ends Tohatchi’s season in 3A quarterfinals

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – Of the two quarterfinalists, the Tohatchi Cougars lost two players to fouls as the Santa Fe Indian School boys team pulled away with 52-45 win.

The Braves ended Tohatchi’s playoff hopes in the New Mexico Class 3A state tournament on Wednesday, Mar. 12 at the Rio Rancho Events Center to a loud and boisterous crowd. The Cougars capped the season with one of its best records in recent memory at 25-4 overall, which included a 12-0 record in district play during the regular season.

“I’m proud of these guys; they never gave up,” Tohatchi coach Kendall Livingston said. “This team has always been about family; they have always been side by side. I’m super proud of these guys no matter what.”

Cougar senior guard Josh Dawes spent an extended amount of time riding the bench after he picked up three fouls at the end of the first half. The Tohatchi points leader then picked up his fourth infraction, minutes into the third stanza as he sat down the final five minutes of the quarter.

Dawes eventually fouled out after making a return at the start of the fourth. He picked up his fifth foul while trying to steal the ball at midcourt with 5:33 left with his team down 41-34.

“I’m proud of these boys for stepping up, for playing good defense,” said Dawes, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. “They didn’t’ give up. Each and every one of them played their hearts out so I’m super proud of them.”

About a minute later, Tohatchi junior point guard DeAndre Rios also fouled out. Nonetheless, the Cougars got within 46-38 after a pair of buckets by senior guard Kyle Yazzie 2:51 left.

The Livingston-coached team stayed within striking distance despite trading baskets with Santa Fe Indian. Myles Candelaria, who came off the bench, hit 1-of-2 free throws and his trey with 1:30 left brought the Cougars as close as 49-42.

Tohatchi made one last push and pulled within 45-40 with 27 seconds left on a basket by reserve Elijah Johnson.

“We just stepped up,” reserve guard Ricky Long said. “We wanted to play for the two players (that fouled out) and we just played as a team. We used the audience for a boost. We used as it as our guidance.”

With Tohatchi battling attrition, Santa Fe Indian had its entire arsenal intact as the Braves had four players finish in double figures headed by the Callado brothers.

Sophomore Dontrey led the Braves with 16 while senior Kenyen helped out with 13 and freshman Taivian added 11 markers. SFIS junior Ohitika Martin chipped in 11.

“I think we got them a little tired at the end, and I do think it has to do with the district that we play in,” Santa Fe Indian School coach Jason Abyeta said. “We were battled-tested and these guys came out well. We didn’t shoot it as good as we can, but we still stayed the course, went hard to the bucket and just played hard physically.

“We told them to control the effort and energy and I think we they did a good job at that,” he added.

In an evenly played opening quarter, Kenyen led the Braves with 10 points while Dawes paced Tohatchi with nine.

The Tohatchi senior scored five straight for his team, which included a 3-point play with 2:20 that earned the Cougars a slight 12-10 advantage.

Dawes later stretched that lead to 16-12 but Kenyen nailed a buzzer-beating 3 to make it one-point game heading into the second.

The two teams traded baskets to start the second stanza, but the Braves took the lead for good with 4:16 to go when Martin nailed a 3 for a 23-20 lead.

At the half, SFIS led 27-24.

After the break, the Braves started to pull away as a 3-pointer by Kenyen earned SFIS a 36-26 cushion with 4:24 remaining in the third.

“We talked about attacking them and we talked about helping out a lot on defense,” Abyeta said of gaining the separation it needed. “We switched hard on defense, and we hadn’t done that all year. We did what we needed to do defensively.”

When asked about their efficient ball movement that left shooters open for seven made 3s, Kenyen said it goes back to playing on the Jicarilla Apache rez with his younger siblings in Dontrey and Taivian.

“We kind of built that chemistry back then,” he said. “We know how to move and make good passes and meet the ball. I have all the confidence in my teammates to do that.”

With the Braves moving the ball around at an effective pace, it extended Tohatchi’s defense.

“They kind of picked apart our 1-2-2,” Livingston said. “That was usually our best (defense) but once they started to pick apart more and more we had to switch to man.

“We had to switch because we weren’t getting out fast enough on the corners to close out their 3-poinst shooters,” he added. “When we switched to man, it was helping us but we got tired and we got winded.”

Despite being winded, Tohatchi’s Adriano Begay didn’t let up. The Cougar senior post finished with 12 points and eight rebounds as he chased after a lot of 50/50 balls.

“It was a battle underneath,” Begay said. “Every board I tried to get, and every loose ball I tried to get, it was what we needed and that was what I was going after.”

Offensively, the Cougars also received nine points and 10 rebounds from senior Kyle Yazzie. For much of the game, Yazzie admitted that he had to earn his points.

“They played really tight man on me,” Yazzie said. “I just couldn’t get open, but I tried to. I tried to pass more, and then cut, but they were still aggressive. I just couldn’t get open.”

Rios also experienced that aggression every time he handled the ball.

“Every time I would beat one (player), one would come help,” Rios said of SFIS’s defense. “I would try to dish out to the open guy.”

Despite coming on the short end, Rios was happy that the Cougars got as far as the Elite Eight.

“Overall, I’m glad about what we did as a team and how we played,” Rios said. “I’m glad to spend this last season with these seniors. I couldn’t have asked for better teammates.”

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