Robertson’s Ortiz nails win on buzzer-beater

ALBUQUERQUE — Sometimes, it’s not the moment that can be exhausting; it’s the aftermath that can take a breath away.

Practicing for both the Class 3A/4A North-South All-Star football and basketball games didn’t wear out Las Vegas Robertson graduate Arjay Ortiz. Neither did his his effort to help the North beat the South 20-19 in the football game Friday. The same went for Ortiz’s coast-to-coast, buzzer-beating drive that gave the North a 92-90 win over the South at Albuquerque High on Saturday evening.

What finally brought Ortiz to the brink of exhaustion was the victory lap he took as his North teammates chased him across the court.

“That tired me more than actually making the play,” Ortiz said. “I was just so excited, and the whole crowd was into it. It was loud. Honestly, it was a great time.”

For the North players, the finish was the exclamation point to what several of them called a great week. North head coach David Rodriguez, who is the head coach at St. Michael’s, said event organizers told him and his staff that they weren’t going to make the team better in just three days of preparation for the game. Rodriguez took that as a challenge.

“We’re in it to compete, that’s our nature,” Rodriguez said. “All of us. And I told the players, ‘The guy next

to you can make you better.’ And they did. I might not be able to in three days, but they could make each other.”

For the first 35 minutes, however, the South had the upper hand as it hit 12 3-pointers to fashion a 70-47 lead after Steven Carrasco drained one with 14:54 left. It was the last 3 of the night for the South, but the North struggled to take advantage of the 5-for-30 shooting.

The score was 87-71 with 4:29 left before the North finally got on track — thanks to the hustle and heart of a trio of Pecos Panthers. Mario Archuleta, Josh DeHerrera and Carlos Cordova were jolted by the news that Pecos student-athlete Daniel Trujillo died in a car crash overnight.

“It was shocking,” DeHerrera said. “It’s hard thinking about it because he was one of us.”

They were able to put that aside for a couple of hours, but the North players saved their signature moment for the closing 21-3 run to seal the win. The trio combined for seven points, eight rebounds and three steals to spur a suffocating effort. Of course, it was what Archuleta, Cordova and DeHerrera were taught while leading Pecos to two straight Class 3A titles.

“It was huge,” Cordova said about the chemistry he and his teammates have. “Just the confidence we have in each other. We’re all trying to win the game together. None of us wants to be hero. We just want the win.”

No, the heroes — namely Ortiz and Albuquerque Sandia Prep’s Jack Henderson — followed the Pecos lead. Henderson knocked down a corner 3 with 1:58 left to cut the margin to 88-87. After Chris Ward scored on a drive with 35 seconds left to make it 90-87, Henderson hit a 25-footer to tie the score with 17 seconds left. He finished with a teamhigh 22 points.

“Jack is amazing,” Rodriguez gushed. “We’re gonna see that guy on TV. He’s going to prep school, but we’re going to see him on TV.”

Ortiz, though, provided the highlight reel in the waning seconds, out-hustling Ward for the rebound off a South miss with less than 10 seconds left. As Ortiz dribbled down court, he looked up to see the clock at about 2 seconds and Henderson open.

“I didn’t have enough time to pass it, so I just said, ‘I’ll finish it myself,’ ” Ortiz said.

So, Ortiz drove to the rim, released the layup just before the buzzer sounded, and the ball nestled into the net off the glass. And Ortiz sprinted down the right sideline — capping a dizzying week, a momentous comeback and any energy he might have left.

The script flipped for the North in the opening game of the session, as it saw a 65-47 lead evaporate over the final 13 minutes of the second half.

After Rolan Catron of Navajo Pine scored on a layup at the 14:36 mark, the South scored 11 straight points to get back into the game. When the North upped the lead to 74-59 on a 25-foot 3 by Mesa Vista grad Xavier Varela, the South cooly responded with six straight points and continued to chip away after that.

When Mesilla Valley’s Hunter Conn nailed a 3 with 3:02 left, the South took an 81-79 lead it never lost.

Escalante’s Justin Garcia had a team-high 19 points to lead the North, while Varela added eight. Mora’s Dominic Pacheco played, but did not score.