Defending champ Las Vegas Robertson steamrolls Ruidoso
Robertson coach James Branch considers himself a man of strong faith, so when he says the Rio Rancho Events Center felt a little like a church before Wednesday morning’s Class 3A quarterfinal game against Ruidoso, you’d be wise to take him at his word.
That’s why the coach of the defending 3A champions broke his normal pregame routine and walked around the floor trying to spark some life into his Robertson players as they got loose for their 9:45 a.m. tipoff.
It worked. The Cardinals hammered Ruidoso 67-44 to advance to Friday’s semifinals in The Pit. They will face No. 2 Navajo Prep, which beat Santa Fe Indian School later in the day.
Robertson hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and led 27-10, a margin that mushroomed to as many as 25 behind Bodie Schlinger’s double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Kenneth Montoya’s team-high 15 points.
Aside from a brief period where Ruidoso trimmed its deficit to 14 in the fourth quarter, the game was a complete blowout.
“I can kind of tell when they’re into it, they weren’t as much rah-rah today at the beginning of the game but they were more focused,” Branch said. “The atmosphere was, I thought it was like a church. I just tried to encourage because I’m always on their ass.”
Nathaniel Gonzales pulled down 12 rebounds for Robertson (25-5) while Mateo Contreras, who buried a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to open a 37-18 lead, had 11 points.
The Cardinals forced 15 turnovers and held Ruidoso to 27% shooting in the first half. The fact that they’re the tournament’s No. 3 seed and somewhat overshadowed by district rival and No. 1
St. Michael’s is a driving force, the players said they’re enjoying playing in a tournament where they feel disrespected.
“It just gives us that fire to prove them wrong, you know?” Montoya said. “That’s all I can say.”
NO. 2 NAVAJO PREP 42, NO. 7 SFIS 28
Braves head coach Jason Abeyta called it fool’s gold — those openings in the Eagles’ defense that allowed the Braves to think they could get a good shot.
Once the ball got there, the space was gone.
In a battle of two excellent defensive efforts, the Eagles were just a little bit better at it.
Surviving a 12-minute, 58-second stretch without a field goal in the first half, Navajo Prep held the Braves (20-11) to just nine points in the second half and pulled away with an 11-0 run that gave it a 40-26 lead on a pair of free throws by Xavier Nez with 1:31 left.
SFIS was just 4-for-18 from the field and oh-for-seven from 3-point range.
“They looked open, and we just didn’t know down shots,” Abeyta said.
More important, the Eagles did hit their chances in the third quarter. Jude Thomas and Xavier Nez hit consecutive 3s that helped Navajo Prep (26-2) build a 27-21 lead as the Braves only scored three points and went the last 5:08 of the third to trail 27-22.
“We got a few to go down and it really did seem to open it up,” Navajo Prep head coach Matt Melvin said.
SFIS managed to creep to within 29-26 on Daylan Martinez’s layup with 5:50 left in the game, but suffered another scoring drought — this one lasting 4:36 as the Eagles went on an 11-point run.
“We couldn’t find our shot,” Braves sophomore guard Kenyen Callado said. “I told [them] before the game, ‘Don’t let one shot let your confidence go. If you miss, keep shooting. If we don’t knock down, we just gotta live with it.’ ”