Daemon dominates district duel
The Taos Tigers won their district championship on Friday (Feb. 24) at home against an opponent in the Los Alamos Hilltoppers — who had to beat Moriarty, Pojoaque and Española, all within a week to make it to the championship game, putting them in good form.
The Hilltoppers carried that same energy into the championship game, where they led at the end of each quarter through three quarters against Taos thanks to their 3-point shooting. Josiah Fresquez and Niko Garcia hit two 3-pointers apiece in the first half. When the shots didn’t drop for Los Alamos, it created long rebound opportunities the Hilltoppers capitalized on. They also scored against Taos through what Tigers coach Hernando “Nando” Chavez characterized as “garbage points.”
“I thought a lot of their [Los Alamos] stuff came off garbage points, we get a possession wouldn’t secure it and they’d give it away and they’d get some sort of garbage point underneath or a kick out for three,” Chavez said.
Daemon Ely kept the Tigers afloat with 12 points in the first half. A Mateo Chavez layup halfway through the third quarter gave the Tigers a four-point lead, 28-24, and forced a timeout from Los Alamos coach Benito Maestas.
Once the Hilltoppers reclaimed the lead, Fresquez held onto the ball near the half-court line in an attempt to draw out the Tiger defense and run either a drive and kick or draw a foul. Taos adjusted by pressing Fresquez to get the ball out of his hands.
Before the start of the fourth quarter, Benny “Rooster” Chavez asked a question in the 95.9 the Mountain broadcast of the game: “But down the stretch, do we really want him [Ely] handling the ball that much?”
Ely seemed to provide him an answer through his dominating performance to finish out the game: Down 36-39 to Los Alamos, Ely took over the game with 12 points in the fourth quarter to win it for the Tigers 57-53. As Taos’ reliable post presence, Ely secured the final rebound off a Los Alamos late 3-point attempt to close it out.
In a post-game interview Chavez lauded his senior captain.
“He did what a senior captain is supposed to do in this type of game,” Chavez said. “Last year we were in this exact same position and unfortunately, we dropped it. We dropped that game last year. He played like a man on a mission. He was hurting. He took a shot. I think it was in the third quarter into his ribcage and his ribs were hurting him throughout that entire fourth quarter.”
The Tigers will have a home game in the first round of the playoffs against Portales on Saturday (March 4).