Small-school roundup: Texico cruises into second round

TEXICO — Laying in the weeds, ready to strike.

It worked for the Texico Wolverines last year, and they’re fine doing the same this year.

The second-seeded Wolverines had little trouble making their way back to the Albuquerque metro phase of the Class 3A state basketball tournament, knocking off 15th-seeded Tohatchi 74-32.

Braden Fraze scored a game-high 24 points, but was followed closely by Dalton Thatcher’s 23-point effort to help Texico (22-7) move on to a 5 p.m. quarterfinal against either Estancia or Tularosa at Cleveland High School.

“I like where we’re at,” Texico coach Scott Karger said. “Our practices have been good, our guys are really focused and our legs are really good.”

The lead hit 40 late, though it looked like it would be competitive after a 21-15 first quarter. Texico got comfortable with a 25-10 second, and then outscored Tohatchi 28-7 in the second half.

“Our defensive intensity picked up,” Karger said, “and I think the kids really stepped up.”

Though the Wolverines have their eyes on a repeat, Karger knows the rest of the state expects a different result.

“Everybody thinks it’s going to be Pecos, and that’s OK,” Karger said. “Everybody thought it was Lordsburg last year. I’m find with being the darkhorse.”

In other area games on Saturday:

Class 2A — At Fort Sumner, the fourth-seeded Foxes struggled with fouls early, but righted the ship with a dominating second half in a 54-42 win over 13th-seeded Hagerman.

Fort Sumner (23-3) faces Mesilla Valley in an 8 a.m. quarterfinal game on Tuesday at Mesilla Valley.

Trailing 18-12 with three minutes left in the half, the Bobcats (15-14) took advantage of Fort Sumner’s foul problems to score the final 12 points of the half for a six-point lead. But they managed only five points in the third stanza, and the Foxes pulled away after that.

Sophomore forward Brant West scored 21 points, junior guard Kreston Butterfield added 12 for the Foxes. Senior guard Isaac Morales led Hagerman with 11 points.

Class 2A — At Escalante, the ninth-seeded Coyotes fell 63-51 to end their season at 18-8.

The Lobos (18-11) move on to a 3 p.m. Wednesday quarterfinal against top-seeded Magdalena at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.

Aaron Jasso scored 18 to lead the Coyotes.

Class 1A — At Albuquerque, 10th-seeded Floyd got off to a good start and cruised past No. 7 Evangel Christian 45-31.

The Broncos (15-12) held the Eagles to just four first-quarter points, and by halftime had opened a 20-10 lead. Evangel Christian (16-12) never made any serious inroads the rest of the way.

Junior guard Jarett East had two 3-pointers and led Floyd with 17 points. Evangel Christian got 14 points from 6-foot-3 senior center Trystan Dreier.

Floyd faces second-seeded Maxwell in a 9:45 a.m. quarterfinal game on Wednesday at Bernalillo H.S.

Class 1A — At Melrose, the third-seeded Buffaloes got off to a 33-8 lead at the quarter and never looked back. Senior guard Jared Lee led four Buffs in double figures with 21 points , while junior guard Sterling Sena added 15, junior forward Hunter Sorgen 14 and junior forward Jordan Jasso 10.

The Rams (10-15), who were down 49-18 at halftime, were led by 10 points from senior forward Joe Serna.

Melrose will take on sixth-seeded Vaughn in an 8 p.m .quarterfinal on Wednesday at Bernalillo.

Class 1A — At Springer, the Red Devils seemed to make a point with a 17-1 first quarter, but Grady hung in.

So fifth-seeded Springer posted a 40-15 third quarter, and ran away with an 83-48 win.

Isaiah Garcia scored 22 points and Estevan Romero scored 15 for the Red Devils (21-9), who move on to a 9:45 a.m. Wednesday quarterfinal against Maxwell at Bernalillo High School. Garcia and Romero split the team’s 10 3-pointers.

Daniel Edwards led Grady (11-17) with 15 points.

“We were getting looks, but we played really tight,” Grady coach Jason Lee said of the first quarter. “We got within 11 right before halftime. So I would say we were in it then, but they just blew us away in the third. They hit six 3-pointers in the quarter, and it seemed to me like they were all within 30 seconds. I know it had to be more spaced out than that, but it came in a hurry.

“Once they spread out and got into transition, it was a nightmare.”