Bulldogs beat Eagles to win IVL outright
EL CENTRO — The Calexico Bulldogs did not feel like sharing. Not one bit.
That’s the biggest takeaway from Thursday’s regular-season-capping clash between said Bulldogs and the Southwest Eagles here — in which Calexico avenged its lone home loss of the season in convincing fashion, 55-41, and ensured that their first league championship since 1996 would not be marred by having “co” appended to the front.
Southwest, of course, was very much in favor of forcing the “co.” Entering the night with a record of 3-2 in the Imperial Valley League and 10-15 overall, a win over Calexico would not only have minted the Eagles as (rather improbable) back-to-back IVL champs, but also afforded them entry into the CIFSDS Division III postseason bracket.
As it stands, the Eagles figure to be on the outside looking in come tournament time — one of just two Valley boys’ squads (along with Imperial) to not be dancing.
They just couldn’t stand up to Calexico’s apparent force majeure in this one.
After two quarters of trading runs (they went into the half up a modest five points at 22-17) the Bulldogs took phasers off stun in the third quarter, outscoring Southwest 21-9.
That was the quarter Aaron Tabarez happened. Or rather, it was the quarter Tabarez turned his game up to 11.
The 5-foot, 7-inch sophomore had already proved himself to be the Bulldogs’ Little-EngineThat-Could-Snatch-YourSoul, putting Calexico on the board with an early three-pointer and leading all scorers with 13 points in the first two frames, but in the third, he seemed to determine to induce pickpocket-related PTSD in every Eagle on the court.
After teammate Fabian Reyna hit a three to push the Bulldogs’ advantage to 25-17, Tabarez had about three straight steal-andscore sequences in rapid succession. He let no careless dribble go unpunished and helped turn a typically competitive IVL contest into a route.
By the time the night was over, he had 28 points (the next highest total on any team was Julian Beltran’s 11) to go with a seemingly unworldly number of steals.
After the game, Calexico coach Hugo Estrada positively glowed as he gave his young guard kudos.
“His heart is bigger than he is,” Estrada said. “A lot of people, when they don’t know him, they underestimate him, but his heart is unbelievable. He’s one of the toughest kids I ever coached, and I’m really happy and proud to have him as a player.”
A nifty turnaround three at the top of the key by Jason Sanchez beat the end of quarter buzzer to pull the Eagles within 17 at 43-26, but if the giddy energy radiating from the supersized Calexico contingent in attendance (they might have outnumbered Eagle rooters) was anything to go by, the fourth quarter was just a formality, which it both was and wasn’t.
Southwest made things semi-interesting, getting a rise out of their side of the gym with a Leo Castillo four-point play opportunity, but, ultimately, the Eagles never got closer than 12 points to the Bulldogs. They just missed too many opportunities to seize momentum (much as Castillo missed his free-throw).
When the clock hit zeros, Bulldog Nation stormed the court. Some might see that as somewhat gauche, considering the decisive nature of Calexico’s win, but the victory was clearly a cathartic one for a basketball fandom that’s been hitched to an also-ran for 24 years.
Coach Estrada, himself a Calexico grad (Class of 2000) admitted that this moment rated as extra special.
“Right now I’m getting chills, because it was almost an obsession for me when I started coaching,” he said. “I always believed that, in order for us to create something that the community and all the kids around Calexico can believe in, we needed to do something like this — something big for the new generation.”
Tabarez, a Player of the Game if ever there was one, expressed similarly buoyant sentiments — once he was extricated from the garnet-clad mob, of course.
“It feels great making history,” Tabarez said. “All of our hard work is paying off. Everyone doubted us, but we came out here to prove just what we could do. … It’s just great … awesome. It’s the best feeling ever.”
Tabarez was effusive in his appreciation for the sea of Calexico fans heading, ever so slowly, for the exits.
“I love ’ em. I love ’ em all,” he said. “They’re always there for us, always cheering us on. They believe in us when no one else does, just supporting us no matter what.”
Basking in their glow, Tabarez offered a bold prediction for the postseason, in which the Bulldogs (23-3, 5-1 IVL) are the top-ranked team in CIF-SDS Division IV, looking for their first-ever title at that level: “We’re going all the way. We’re going all the way, no matter what. I believe in that,” he said. “We all believe in that.”