NMSD continues remarkable run, outlasting Waldorf
Size matters.
Sometimes, it’s the size of what beats inside of a basketball player that matters more than simply having a 6-foot-9 behemoth in the paint. The Roadrunners of New Mexico School for the Deaf battled their way out of deficits of 11 points (in the first quarter) and seven points (in the fourth) to outlast Santa Fe Waldorf 77-76 in overtime of a District
1-1A game in Larson Gymnasium on Tuesday night, thus preserving the feelgood story of Northern New Mexico.
At 11-4 overall and 1-1 in 1-1A, NMSD is building its argument as a contender in the district as well as earning a state tournament berth — its first in 40 years. That’s merely window dressing for what the Roadrunners did with their backs to the wall against the hot-shooting Wolves, who hit 15 3-pointers on the night that is unofficially the 11th-best shooting night in state history.
“They were so stable all night,” NMSD head coach Letty Perez said through an interpreter. “They believe in themselves, they know they could do it. They were just handling themselves under pressure.”
That was apparent when Jeromy Lopez drained a 3-pointer to give the Wolves a 21-10 lead in the first quarter as they hit seven 3s to open the game. The Roadrunners remained calm when Lopez drained another 3 and was fouled by NMSD eighth-grader Bruce Brewer with 6:26 left in the game. Lopez knocked down the free throw to give Waldorf a 52-47 lead. Lopez added triple just 52 seconds later to up the margin to 58-51, and it appeared the Wolves would pull off the upset.
“We’re almost becoming the spoilers,” Waldorf head coach Enrique Otero said. “So many games, we’ve been close — this game and Monte [del Sol, a 55-52 loss on Jan. 18]. But I am really proud of these guys.”
NMSD, though, just kept doggedly chipping away, whether it was a tenacious defense that forced two turnovers and a 1-for-4 stretch by the Wolves (5-5, 0-1) in the final 2 minutes; Deven Thompson, the aforementioned behemoth, collecting 41 points as the Waldorf defense could not slow the junior down, or Jonathan Garcia draining two 3s in the final minute that forced a 67-all tie and the ensuing overtime.
The last triple, from the corner, came
as Brewer dished off to Garcia after drawing the Waldorf defense to him with 12 seconds left. Garcia spent the summer refining his outside shot, just for a moment like this.
“I just needed a chance to do it,” Garcia said through an interpreter. “I’m not letting any of that negativity into my brain. I believed in myself, and I knew I could do it. And I did it.”
So did Thompson, whom the Roadrunners fed vigorously through the fourth quarter and overtime. He scored the first three buckets in the extra period for a 73-67 lead, using his large frame in the low block to go up for easy layups.
Having shooters like Garcia and Brewer, who hit three 3s, force defenses to be honest.
“It’s a lot better,” Thompson said. “I feel like I have space inside.”
Space was what the Wolves wanted to create, and their perimeter shooting forced the Roadrunners out of their 2-3 zone and go with a man-toman defense. The caveat was that Thompson stayed in the paint, leaving his player open on the outside to keep Waldorf from driving to the basket.
“We were doing exactly what we wanted to do,” Otero said. “We just didn’t have an answer for Thompson when he was under the rim.”
Not that the Wolves didn’t try. They double-teamed him constantly in the first half, but the price the strategy exacted was fouls. NMSD collected nine of them in the first half, and four went to Waldorf junior guard Santi Briceño, who sat glumly on the bench until overtime came.
Still, Waldorf held a 33-30 lead at the half, and Thompson only had 15 points by that point. However, the Wolves had to abandon the strategy in the second half, and Thompson scored 10 points in the third quarter to help the Roadrunners to a 47-46 lead heading into the fourth.