Taos boys complete historic sweep at Hope Christian Tournament
With a sweep at the Hope Christian Tournament from Thursday through Saturday (Jan. 13-15), the Taos Tigers achieved what no boys
basketball team, other than Hope Christian, has done in well over a decade: Win the championship game on the Huskies’ home court.
The Hope Christian Huskies are coached by Jim Murphy, who
in his long and storied career has won over 800 games. The all-time
record belongs to Ralph Tasker, with 1,121 wins, who coached Hobbs from 1941-98, leading
them to 12 state titles. The Huskies dominated the 2010s by winning
six state championships from 2013-18, and winning eight total in that decade.
The Taos Tigers, as well as every other team in the bracket, had to bear witness to all the banners
hanging down the rafters, and the images of the Huskies starting
lineup individually framed up on the wall.
Then they had to face a gauntlet of three difficult teams.
First, the St. Pius X Sartans (10-4, #12); second, the Artesia Bulldogs (9-8, #51); and finally, the Hope Christian Huskies (10-7, #18). Each team presented a different challenge and a slew of skilled players to try and ward off.
Thursday (Jan. 13) against St. Pius X
The Sartans proved to be the toughest opponent, not only by ranking but also with their tall personnel. At the forward positions,
Sartans’ 6-foot-7 Brian Kalb and
6-foot-5 Gene Trujillo perfectly mirrored the heights of Daemon Ely and Elden Torres, limiting their typical offensive production in the first half. The 6-foot-4 Tanner Davis also helped shore up the interior defense for the Sartans.
Their zone scheme was a puzzle that required finesse from the Tigers. Finesse came in the form of a spin move and a soft baby
hook by Ely over the outstretched arms of a Sartans defender. He would not score again until the second half. Their next offensive score came from a well-executed backdoor play, a pass from Ely out on the wing to a cutting Matthew Mondragon. The teams kept trying
to methodically probe each other’s defense.
Nothing was easy in the first, and there was very little operating
space for players to take advantage of. Some scores came as a result of broken plays. For instance, on one
play Anthony Padilla lost control of the ball, and the quick hands of Alejandro Sapienz snatched it away. The ball bounced back and
forth from Tiger to Sartan, eventually finding Nathaniel Gutierrez on the floor. With the ball and
harassed by two Sartans found the nearby Padilla, who shot the ball high off the window to take the lead 9-8.
The Sartans capitalized in transition, getting several and-1 situations. A couple of 3-pointers from the quick guard Dominic Esparza helped them build a lead in the second quarter. When Chris Coash set up a play, telling Freeze exactly where to go for the open shot, and
when sure enough Freeze got to that spot, and sank the 3-point
shot, the coach for the Tigers called a timeout. The Tigers were down 13-20. A tough running bank
shot by Padilla brought it to within 5, 15-20.
The jump shots were falling for Davis, Esparza and Freeze in the third quarter as they outscored the Tigers 14-9. Heading into the
fourth quarter the Tigers were down 24-34.
Even down by double digits the Tigers maintained their defensive intensity and started finding their
groove offensively. Isiah Jeantete was able to get separation and hit
some mid-range jump shots. Mondragon’s rainbow 3-pointer gave the Tigers the lead and they never
looked back. They won 46-40.
Friday Jan. 14 against Artesia
The Artesia Bulldogs presented a different obstacle. They lacked
size but the fast-twitch offensive dynamo Nick Sanchez gave the Bulldogs a puncher’s chance.
Without the benefit of a roll man to set solid screens, or another potent offensive threat to grab
the defense’s attention, Sanchez created offense by himself the whole game. He’d get away from
the player guarding him and make a contested jump shot or draw the foul. In the opening minutes he
had an impressive step-over cross move he used to get open and hit a free-throw jumper. Shortly after,
though, Ely stole the show with a breakaway one handed dunk to tie
the game 6-6. The Bulldogs offense could not be stopped in the first quarter, they were up 21-17.
Ely and Torres were too much
for Artesia. Ely scored 26 and Torres had 19, accounting for half of the Tigers offense. Padilla did
some damage too, scoring 17. He wasn’t considered for the Jackson Compaction player of the game, but Mondragon was the heart and
soul of the Tigers as he played with not only a mask on but with a couple of plastic or paper tubes lodged into his nostrils to stop some sort of nose bleeding that occurred early in the game. The broadcasters were amazed at how he could even be out there running on the floor.
The Tigers won the game 71-55.
On Saturday Jan. 15 against Hope Christian
The Hope Christian Huskies are not quite as tall as the Sartans
but they are a well-oiled machine. Small forward Kaden Miller did offer some resistance registering two blocks in the game. The bigger issue for the Tigers was the pace of the game. The high basketball IQ guard Derek Martinez could
not be rushed. Whether or not an offensive possession generated
points, after taking a lot of time out of the clock they would generally
find a decent look. Noah Perry was big for the Huskies knocking down 3-pointers. The Huskies were up 10-6 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter Mondragon was able to poke the ball away from Martinez, which led to a fastbreak outlet pass from Ely back to Mondragon, who finished the play with a tough layup. When the game was 12-8 in favor of Hope Christian, Jeantete shot a
confident NBA length, 3-pointer
over the arms of 6’3” Jett Wycoff
making it 11-12. The herky jerky, “mad chemist” Martinez answered
right back by shape shifting his way near the free throw line and within a crowd of players expecting him to pass it out, he swished nothing but net.
The Tigers still did not let up on defense, as they had a block party when they were down 14-19, first it was Mondragon swatting Martinez,
then Ely soaring high to deflect a 3-point attempt. At half-time the
score was 23-18 in favor of Hope Christian.
The third quarter was a bit of a stalemate. The Tigers had plenty of unforced errors but were saved
by Padilla’s ability to make deep 3-pointers at the right times. One of the coaches on the Tigers bench received a technical for unsavory language toward a referee. Wycoff sank both freebies for the Huskies.
Once again, the Tigers found themselves down to start the
fourth quarter, this time 27-34, but it didn’t seem to matter for the Tigers. They were going to find a way to win.
It started with Torres getting his own rebound off a missed shot 29-34. Then a Jordan-esque layup
in traffic by Jeantete 31-34. Then a sweet big man game, where Ely drove it inside and dished it off to Torres who had inside position on
his man, for the easy layup 33-34. The only fitting way for them to
take the lead would be with a dramatic long rainbow 3-point shot by Padilla, who would go on to earn the Jackson Compaction Player of the game.
The Tigers won 51-38.