Tigers close out hopeful Hope Christian
The Hope Christian Huskies were underdogs heading into their matchup against the favored Taos Tigers on Saturday (Feb. 5). They were without the services of the smooth, always-in-control point guard, Derek Martinez. Still, you can never count out a team coached by the legendary Jim Murphy.
Coach Hernando “Nando” Chavez did not expect an easy win, saying “we knew that they were a scrappy team. We knew that they attack the glass. We knew they were good in transition. They got us there early. So yeah, there weren’t any, I would say, surprises, but we just think we had to come out and we had to be able to rebound and then try and take advantage of those 50/50s.”
In the first half, neither team could create enough separation from one another. The Tigers went on a mini-run that involved an Isiah Jeantete pull-up jumper in the low post, followed by an Anthony Padilla 3-pointer, and then on the defensive end, the Tigers drew a charge to take the momentum.
The Huskies neutralized that by finding the open man on the corners for 3-pointers, usually from a drive into the paint and a kick out to the left corner. The scrappy Huskies were also able to control the pace early on by keeping the Tigers off the boards on both ends, thereby denying second-chance opportunities for Taos, and creating good looks for the Huskies from their offensive rebounds. Hope Christian is one of the few teams that can possibly outplay Taos in a slow-tempo game. At half time, the two teams were at a deadlock: 24-24.
In the second half, Taos was able to jump out in front due to a solid defensive effort and a lethal
transition offense. Daemon Ely’s layup early in the fourth quarter made it an 11-point game: 46-35. From thereon, the Huskies were desperate to get back in the game and tried trapping the Tigers by playing a full-court press. The Tigers were able to break through most traps for uncontested layups but the Huskies did close the gap to a 7-point game, 43-50, with three minutes to go.
Hope Christian’s Noah Perry was a thorn in the Tigers side all game. His lateral quickness and active hands got Perry four steals on the night. His speed got him through the first line of defense which got him 19 points and four assists for the game. The streaky forward, Jet Wyckoff, was limited to eight points.
The backcourt of Padilla and Jeantete provided a solid one-two scoring punch for the Tigers, as they combined for 36 points. Daemon Ely held down the post with 16 points and some key blocks in transition.
The Tigers still struggle from the charity stripe. They made 11 out of 24 free throws (45 percent). As the competition gets stiffer, this liability could prove to be an Achilles’ heel.
Taos won 63-53. They will play a home game in the state tournament quarterfinals versus Belen, a team they previously lost to in the Stu Clark Tournament, on Wednesday (March 9).