Demons score 7th place win in Hobbs

HOBBS — It took three games, but the Santa Fe High boys basketball team finally got a win Saturday morning as the Demons beat Las Cruces Mayfield 60-53 in the seventh place game of the Hobbs Holiday Tournament. “We are happy to get a win against a [Class] 6A opponent that is on the opposite part of the state from us,” Santa Fe High coach Zack Cole said. “We typically would not see them up north in any tournaments. … This was a big win for us today.”

With the win, the Demons (6-7) avoided going winless in the tournament.

“It is good to go home with a win,” Cole said. “We have a long trip back. It is a fivehour trip back and those five hours are going to be a lot better now that we were able to pull out a victory against a tough team.”

Aside from a Mayfield layup to take a 2-1 lead, the Demons led the rest of the game after using a 13-3 run to take a 14-5 lead they did not relinquish.

The Trojans scored the last five points of the first quarter to get within 14-10, but Santa Fe High outscored them 14-9 in the second to take a 28-19 lead into the break. Santa Fe High took its largest lead when Derek Carlton scored on a layup for 24-14 with 3:20 left. The bucket represented Carlton’s only points.

Mayfield attempted a comeback in the third quarter, cutting Santa Fe High’s lead to 37-36, but never got any closer.

“The way [Mayfield] coach [William] Keys coaches, we know that [Mayfield] is not going to stop playing,” Cole said. “He does a heck of a job in order of getting them to play hard. We knew they were going to have one last punch and they did.”

Santa Fe High had two players in double figures, Victor Salcido and Antonio Andermann. Salcido led the Demons with 16 points and seven rebounds while Andermann chipped in 15 points.

“Those are our two starting guards,” Cole said. “They make us go. What I like about what their game was [Saturday], they led us in double figures, but they set up a lot of their teammates today as well and that is what we need. We need to play hard, play smart, and play together.”

Mayfield’s Jayden Walsh had a game-high 18 points. Kobe Colemenero finished with nine points for the Trojans while Anthony Jones had seven.

Next up for the Demons is a home game against Los Alamos on Saturday.