Braves hold off Cardinals

Indian School still has shot to take top district spot

Throw a dart at virtually any game on the Santa Fe Indian School boys basketball schedule and you’re sure to find a stat sheet that shows just how valuable seniors James Bridges and Jason Abeyta are.

On Tuesday night inside the Pueblo Pavilion, however, it was two other seniors who stole the show. Team captain Jaden Aguino shook off a first-half injury to score 13 of his 15 points in the final two quarters, and senior guard Anders Pecos dropped in a team-high 17 to lead the Braves to a pivotal District 2-3A victory over Las Vegas Robertson.

The 59-50 win ended with an 8-2 SFIS run and competed a regularseason sweep of the Cardinals. It all but wrapped up no worse than second place behind top-ranked St. Michael’s. It also puts the Braves (13-9, 6-1) and Horsemen (16-7, 7-0) on a Feb. 23 collision course for the district’s top spot.

“That’s what we’re thinking,” Pecos said. “We just have to get there. We can’t let up because we know they won’t.”

SFIS nearly let Tuesday’s game get away. Robertson opened a 35-30 lead late in the third quarter as Bridges sat on the bench with foul trouble and Abeyta headed to the sidelines after a questionable call nearly landed him a technical foul.

It sparked five unanswered points by the Braves and was part of a 9-4 run to end the quarter. Aguino tied it on a putback with 12 seconds remaining, then Bridges converted a three-point play with 6:40 left in regulation to put SFIS up for good, 45-43.

The Cardinals had a handful of chances to tie or even take the lead before a Pecos baseline jumper in the final 90 seconds opened a six-point lead and essentially ended it.