Albuquerque Menaul barely holds off Mora
RIO RANCHO — Albuquerque Menaul’s Dereck Pyle hit a driving layup with 11 seconds remaining and Mora’s Tristen Valdez barely missed a 3-pointer at the final horn, as the Panthers eliminated the fourth-seeded Rangers 67-65 in a Class 2A state boys basketball tournament quarterfinal Wednesday night at Rio Rancho Cleveland.
Valdez, a senior, had an open look from from the top of the key, but his jumper just scraped the back of the rim and bounced off.
“It was a tough way to end, but it was really a successful season,” Mora firstyear head coach Carlos Arellano said. “These boys worked so hard. I am really proud of them.”
It was Valdez who tied the game at 65-all on a clutch 3 with 25 seconds remaining, but the fifth-seeded Panthers raced right back downcourt and worked it to Pyle who split the Mora defense.
“We needed to push it, and we’re not bad when we push it,” Menaul head coach Gary Boatman said. “If the score’s tied or we’re ahead, we’re obviously going to try to control it; ‘up or even, up or even.’ … But our two kids made plays at the end.”
The other monster play was when Menaul’s 6-foot-9 senior Michael Ou scored on a putback. The Panthers were leading 63-62 at the time when Ou ripped down a powerful offensive rebound despite being blocked out by two Rangers, then made a short bank shot with 34 seconds for a three-point edge.
“I love that he went up and made a play,” Boatman said. “He played above the rim like he can. I know [some] people might think it was [a foul for] over-theback, but he went straight up and made a good basketball move.”
Arellano, who coached most of the Mora players in youth ball for about a decade, agreed with Boatman.
“When you’re that big,” Arellano said, then paused. “He was way over everybody. I didn’t see anything wrong with the play. He’s a tough kid, but we didn’t back down from him all night.”
Ou was 5-of-11 from the floor for a game-high 21 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots. He also made 11 of 14 free throws.
The taller Panthers (25-5) were tremendous at the foul line all evening, hitting 27 of 31 (87.1 percent).
Still, the Rangers (21-8) looked like they might take control of the game on a number of occasions.
Down 25-19 with less than three minutes left in the first half, Mora went on an 11-0 run with Valdez scoring six of the points and Carlos Arellano capping the burst with a four-point play after being fouled on a made 3-pointer.
Mora led 30-27 at the half and 41-36 midway through the third quarter after back-to-back 3s by Kenneth Martinez.
“But we had a problem pulling away,” coach Arellano said. “We had some chances to widen the lead, but we just couldn’t draw away from them.
“Our schedule was kind of weak at the end of the season in our district, and we don’t play good teams like Menaul. I think it hurt that we don’t face teams [in the final weeks of the season].”
The Rangers were 8-0 in District 5-2A. The Panthers finished second in District 2-2A to powerhouse Magdalena (28-1).
Menaul used an 8-0 run to retake the lead at 44-41 late in the third quarter before the Rangers responded with a 9-2 run to close the period up 50-46.
Mora got a 3-pointer from Carlos Muller Jr., to make it 53-46 just seconds into the fourth quarter; it remained in front until the final two minutes.
“We know Mora’s going to play hard every time, we know it,” Boatman said. “We really had to fight to win that one; total respect for Mora.”
Carlos Arellano had a team-high 16 points for the Rangers while Jerome Pacheco had 15 points and nine rebounds and Valdez scored 10 with six boards.
NO. 2 FORT SUMNER/HOUSE 73, NO. 10 ESCALANTE 39
In another 2A quarterfinal, second-seeded Fort Sumner/House downed Escalante 73-39 at Rio Rancho High. The Foxes finished the first half on a 12-0 run for a 28-20 halftime lead, then outscored the Lobos 45-19 the rest of the way. Escalante finishes the 2017-18 season with a 15-14 record.