Reigning EPAC champs headed to familiar territory

TEXICO — By now, the Texico boys basketball players might be seeing the Fort Sumner team in their sleep.

So far, though, it's been anything but a nightmare.

Texico beat Fort Sumner 53-47 in the Farwell Tournament championship game on Dec. 9, then beat the Foxes 60-36 for the EPAC Tournament title Saturday night at Greyhound Arena.

Tonight at 7 p.m., the Wolverines and Foxes meet for the third time in exactly a month. The Wolves hope to go three-for-three, while also improving to 15-0 on the season.

"It's hard to beat somebody over and over again," Texico senior forward Nathan Phipps said after Saturday's game. "We'll see what happens."

"It's a good game for us," Texico head coach Ty Thatcher said. "They're a good team and they're well-coached. They've got good athletes. They shoot the ball pretty well. It's a bit scary when you're going into a game with them because the (Brant) West kid can get going and really shoot the ball well at times. We did enough (Saturday night) to control him, but he's a good player."

"Fun. It's always fun playing them," Wolverines junior point guard Dalton Thatcher said. "I enjoy it."

For Texico senior guard Ben Crist, these games against Fort Sumner mean a little more.

"Playing Fort Sumner is a family matter," he said. "My dad went there, and all my other family goes there, so it's just a lot of fun to come and compete and have a lot of fun with my friends and family. ... I'm friends with all the kids. It's just a fun competition. .... It's just fun to play against them. I've known those kids forever and they're a solid team. It's just fun to compete."

Crist is tasked with trying to contain West when Texico and Fort Sumner square off. He was, however, still recovering from offseason meniscus surgery when his teammates played Fort Sumner in last month's Farwell Tournament championship game, so his role was reduced to a spectator who could give the other Wolverines pointers from the bench.

"It was very, very hard," Crist recalled. "Fort Sumner's a very tough team and we had a game plan for them. And I was our main key to shut down West and I wasn't there. So I just had to support my other teammates to step up and shut him down. If he had got going it would've been much tougher to win against them."

Skyler Davis knocked down 23 points in Texico's Dec. 9 win at Farwell, with Phipps adding 10, the only two Wolverine players in double figures that night. Dalton Thatcher added nine.

Paden McDermid was Texico's leading scorer on Saturday with 12 points, followed by Cayd Bilbrey with 10, Crist with nine, and Davis and Luke Phipps with eight each. Nathan Phipps and Dalton Thatcher chipped in with six apiece. Kyle Rohrbach completed the Wolves' scoring with two points.

After Saturday's game, Coach Thatcher credited the presence of Crist as a big reason for the wider margin of victory, but not the only reason.

"We did a better job of playing basketball in general," the elder Thatcher said.

Overall, winning their third straight EPAC title will give the Wolves confidence as they move forward into tonight's game and beyond.

"Confidence is always good," Nathan Phipps said, "but you build a lot of confidence by working hard in practice, preparing, that's where you can get a lot of confidence. We've got to have a lot more good practices coming up."

Texico's girls basketball team (11-3) won its own EPAC championship earlier on Saturday night, nipping Logan 30-29 at Greyhound Arena on senior forward Mackenzie Haakma's inside hoop off an assist from junior guard Jasmine Davalos, followed by some tough Texico D in the waning seconds.

And guess who the Lady Wolverines visit on Thursday at 5:30? That's right, the same Logan team they edged on Saturday night.

But before that, tonight the Lady Wolves host Fort Sumner, the team they beat 53-38 in Friday night's EPAC semifinal. Talk about deja vu for the green and white.

"Playing teams like Logan and Fort Sumner makes you better because you can't do things wrong," Texico head coach Richard Luscombe said. "I think it's really beneficial this time of year."