Atrisco takes down AHS to remain perfect in district
Free throws, 3-pointers and defense. That was Atrisco Heritage’s recipe Tuesday night.
The Class 6A’s third-ranked Jaguars won all three of those categories — two of them decisively — as the first rotation of District 4-6A boys basketball games closed with Atrisco’s 64-56 win over visiting Albuquerque High.
No. 9-ranked AHS (12-7, 3-2) shot 53 percent from the floor, but the Bulldogs faced deficiencies elsewhere that hampered the effort against the Jaguars (17-2, 5-0).
To that end, free throws were a storyline throughout. Atrisco Heritage made 21 of 25, while AHS was just 5 of 11. The disparity was a sore point for Bulldogs coach Ron Garcia with the officials most of the night.
“We felt like we could get the lead, we would be clutch from the line,” Ortega said. “It’s been that way all year long.”
“The game plan was to get to the freethrow line,” senior forward Jordan Arroyo added.
The Jaguars also drained nine 3-pointers. The Bulldogs had three.
The game featured 11 lead changes, seven in an engrossing and entertaining first half. The last of those seven was back-up guard Dominic Rivas’ triple in front of the AHS bench with 1 second left that gave the Jaguars a 36-35 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half, but Atrisco Heritage countered that with six 3s in the second quarter, including two by 6-foot-7 Jordan Arroyo who rarely ventures out that far. To wit: Arroyo had just three triples all season before this game.
Still, AHS, led by 6-7 senior forward Marlon Cunningham and guard Randy Castillo, had carved out a six-point lead at 45-39, with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Then Cunningham got hit with a third foul, and Garcia removed him for the final 2:50 of that quarter. With Cunningham on the bench, the Jaguars closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run. Enrique Bibian hit a 3, and later Joziah Ramos scored off the glass to tie the game at 45-all.
Following an Arroyo blocked shot against Castillo, Atrisco broke 3 on 1, culminating with a two-handed dunk by Arroyo for a 47-45 lead headed to the fourth quarter.
Daizon Green’s 3 for the Bulldogs put them back in front 49-47 with 6:07 remaining, but DeMarcus Sutphen answered a minute later with a 3 of his own and a 50-49 lead. That was the last of the 11 lead changes.
Ramos led the Jaguars with 21 points, 14 of those points came at the free-throw line. Cunningham led AHS with 17 points. At Hope, four Huskies reached double figures as the Huskies (14-7, 4-0 in 4-4A) routed the second-place Rams (11-9, 2-2).
At Highland, guards Segun Oyeku and Anthony Chavez each scored 17 points for the Vikings (12-7, 4-1 in 4-6A), who visit first-place Atirsco on Thursday night. At Rio Rancho, the Rams didn’t need two overtimes to beat the Storm — as they did just seven days earlier — as Rio Rancho improved to 16-5 overall and 3-1 in District 1-6A. Post Kamirah Decker had 14 points to lead the Rams.