Pecos pounds Texico boys

TEXICO — This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, was it? Saturday’s rematch of last year’s state 3A boys basketball championship game between now-2A stalwarts Pecos and Texico seemed to have barn-burner written all over it.

But there were no metaphoric barns burnt in Saturday’s game, though Texico head coach Ty Thatcher may have wanted to toss his scorebook into an actual blaze after the Wolverines lost 79-47 at Texico High School.

A contest that started reaching out-of-hand status in the second quarter officially arrived there in the second half, during which the Wolverines trailed by as many as 35 on their way to suffering their first District 7-2A loss and fourth overall setback of the season.

“We’re going to play them several times, and we knew that going in, but we were expecting to be a little more competitive in the matchup at home,” Thatcher said. “So now on the road (against Pecos Feb. 22) we’ll have to piece together some better play in the early stages of the game and hopefully put a little pressure on them to perform instead of it all being on us.”

Saturday’s lopsided game was not just a surprise to Thatcher. Pecos head coach Ira Harge Jr. was stunned, too.

“Very much so, because this is a very disciplined, very well-oiled machine, meaning Texico. They’re very good,” Harge Jr. said. “And that (outcome) did shock me, pleasantly. That’s a very good team and Coach Thatcher does a great job, so I was definitely shocked.”

Texico’s only lead of the night came in the early going, when senior guard Dalton Thatcher drove to hit an off-balance shot, giving the Wolverines a 2-0 lead.

Soon, though, Pecos had surged to a 10-3 advantage. Late in the first quarter, the Panthers were up 15-7, before Wolves forward Josh Estes nailed a right-corner trey to bring Texico within just five by quarter’s end.

That promise, however, fizzled early in the second. Pecos’ Xavier Padilla scored to make it a 17-10 game, and Texico’s ensuing possession was abruptly ended by an Omar Dominguez steal, which created a Panther possession that ended with another Padilla bucket.

Texico’s next possession also ended with a steal, this one by Issac Gonzalez who fed Dominguez for a layup that gave Pecos a 21-10 advantage. And a bit later in the quarter, Anthony Armijo sank a three to hand Pecos a 24-10 lead.

By halftime, the Panthers led 34-18, and they opened the third-quarter scoring with a right-corner trey from Dominguez to go up by 19. Pecos rolled right through the third period, leading 62-36 by the time it was over, and stayed in command throughout the fourth.

“It was probably one of the few times this year that we put four quarters together,” Harge Jr. said. “It was more from the defensive side, that’s what we stressed.”

“They did a great job of putting pressure on the basketball in the open court,” Coach Thatcher said. “It’s difficult against a team like that, such a ball-hawk type team, with the quickness and the persistence that they had putting pressure on the ball. It’s tough to play from behind against that.”

While Texico dropped to 2-1 in district play, 19-4 overall, Pecos moved to 3-0 district, 19-3 overall. The Panthers, who beat Texico 58-44 in last year’s 3A state title game, might just be headed for a 2A championship this year based on how thoroughly they dominated Texico Saturday night.

But Harge Jr. won’t start celebrating yet.

“I still think we’re a work-in-progress,” he said, “because I don’t think we’re consistent enough. Once I feel that we’re consistent, then I would say that we’re state-championship bound, hopefully. But until we’re consistent, I wouldn’t say that.”