No. 1 Texico powers into semifinals
Santa Rosa, Estancia also earn wins in quarterfinals
RIO RANCHO — The Texico Wolverines, unbeaten and top-seeded, certainly looked the part Wednesday in the Class 3A boys quarterfinal round at Santa Ana Star Center.
Texico shot a 67 percent (32-of-48) from the field in rolling past the Dexter Demons.
Santa Rosa, which won a two-overtime thriller over Newcomb, gets the next crack at Texico in today’s semifinal round. Meanwhile, waiting in the wings is No. 2 Estancia (28-1). The Bears also advanced to the semis and will face Pecos or Cuba, who played late Wednesday.
No. 1 TEXICO 80, No. 8 DEXTER 46: Nathan Phipps, a 6-foot-5 senior, did it all for Texico, sharing game-high honors of 17 points with teammate Dalton Thatcher to go with gamehighs in rebounds (11) and assists (five).
Thatcher had three 3-pointers, Paden McDermid added 13 points and Ben Crist added 12 for the veteran Wolverines. Texico led 18-7 after one quarter and by 37 points in the closing minutes.
David Miramontes scored 15 points for the Demons, who led one minute into the game before Texico, which finished with nine scorers, took over.
The one weakness in Texico’s game Wednesday: 10-of-20 free-throw shooting. No. 4 SANTA ROSA 54, No. 5 NEWCOMB
52 (2 OT): The Lions rallied from 12 points down in the fourth quarter and pulled out a dramatic win in double overtime.
Joaquin Romo led the Lions (19-9) with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Cody Schattshneider added 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lions were down 38-26 in the fourth when they went on a 7-0 run to climb back into the game. The Skyhawks slowly wore down as the game finished at 43-43 at the end of regulation.
Kelkenny Watchman led the Skyhawks (218) with 13 points.
“It took some endurance (to win), no doubt about it,” Santa Rosa coach Frank Ortiz said. “That was a really tough game as far as physical ability went.” No. 2 ESTANCIA 61, No. 7 TULAROSA 46: Drayton Oberg’s 17-point, 13-rebound performance lifted the Bears (28-1), whose loss was to Santa Rosa in tournament play in January.
Reyez Herrera scored a game-high 20 for Estancia, which led only 27-26 at halftime, but won the third quarter 14-5 and led by 16 with a minute to play.
Anthony Betancur’s 12 points led Tularosa (18-8).