Texico hits road

TEXICO - Saturday was a night of firsts and lasts for Texico's boys basketball team.

The fourth-seeded Wolverines took their first step up the state-tournament ladder by defeating 13th-seeded Menaul 63-50, but did so in their last home game of the season. From here on out, any time Texico still has a game to play it will be in the Albuquerque area.

"It'll be nice to get up there and play in a different environment," Wolverines head coach Ty Thatcher said. "It's an exciting time of year."

By the time this story landed on your front porch, Texico was just hours away from playing its State 2A quarterfinal against fifth-seeded Mora at Rio Rancho's Santa Ana Star Center. A finalist last year, the Wolverines are two wins from attaining at least that status, three from the status they really want - state champions.

In Saturday's Texico Sports Arena curtain call, they played like a team hungry for a title.

"They competed. That's what you ask 'em to do," Coach Thatcher said. "And they found a way to be ahead at the end. I'm very proud of their effort."

An effort that earned the Wolverines (22-7) their Wednesday-morning matchup against Mora (21-9).

"It's a great journey to be able to win game by game," Texico senior swingman Skyler Davis said. "Your ultimate goal is to win a championship at the end."

Davis helped them get one-quarter of the way there, scoring 10 of his team-high 22 points in the third quarter, 16 in the second half overall.

Senior guard Dalton Thatcher added 19 points for the Wolverines, helping them build a double-digit lead in the first quarter by scoring 11 points - including three treys - during that period.

The main Menaul player Texico had to worry about was junior guard Carlos Fuentes, whose 26 points accounted for more than half the Panthers' output. There were plenty of Wolverines for Menaul to worry about, especially Davis and Thatcher. After Texico built a 15-7 first-quarter lead, it was Davis who scored to make it a double-digit game. After the Panthers cut the deficit to 17-9, it was Thatcher who answered right away to make it a 10-point margin yet again.

Though Texico carried a 20-9 lead into the second quarter, two consecutive Menaul baskets to open the period quickly made it a seven-point affair. And the Panthers threatened to draw even closer when Fuentes came up with a steal to create a new possession.

On that trip down the floor, Menaul guard Dereck Pyle lofted a jumper, trying to make it a five-point contest. The ball landed on the back of the rim and hung there tantalizingly for several seconds, looking like it might be stuck. Slowly, it began to move slowly, but would it drop in or out? The latter, as it turned out, and Texico reclaimed possession.

On the other end, a Cole Rohrbach putback made it a 22-13 game. Then after a Menaul miss, Rohrbach scored again to put Texico ahead by 11. Another Panther miss was followed by a one-handed shot from Davis, giving the Wolverines a 26-13 advantage. Texico had taken control after that Pyle shot had come oh so close to dropping home.

Still, both teams went into a scoring funk in the half's closing minutes and it remained a 13-point game at intermission. Coach Thatcher felt the Wolverines' late-second-quarter offensive swoon was largely due to Menaul holding firm on its defensive strategy.

"The first quarter we kind of handled their zone pretty well," Thatcher said. "And they came out in it (in the second quarter) and we were prepped to see the man (defense) coming out and made some adjustments. When they did finally go back to the man, I thought we were a little bit better."

"We just needed to keep on pushing the ball down the court, keep the tempo up and really drive to the basket," Davis said. "We weren't shooting it great from the outside, so we just needed to get inside looks and then we knew that our defense would take care of our offense."

Texico opened the third quarter with a 13-5 run, kicked off by Luke Phipps' rainbow three from the left corner. After a two by Pyle, Dalton Thatcher answered with a left-elbow trey that made it a 32-15 game.

It was 35-18 when Davis hit a sideways leaner to put Texico up by 19. He soon followed that with an inside basket, handing the Wolverines their first 20-plus-point lead of the night.

Throughout the second half, Davis seemed like he had rented Allan Iverson's nickname 'The Answer' because he usually had one every time Texico needed to quell Menaul's momentum.

After the Panthers shaved their 39-18 deficit to 39-23, Davis scored to give Texico some momentum of its own, because a David Davalos three-point play soon followed.

When the Panthers made it 44-25, Davis scored to put it back over 20 again. When Menaul closed to within 49-35 in the fourth quarter, Davis answered quickly with a field goal to make it 51-35. Menaul got to within 13 on a Fuentes trey, but Davis soon hit a pair of free throws to hand Texico a 15-point edge.

With roughly two and a half minutes to go, the Panthers shaved their deficit to 55-45, but on the other end, Davis scored inside.

"Skyler's been playing with a lot of confidence around the basket a little bit more," Coach Thatcher said. "And that helps us."

"I'm a senior, it's my last year," Davis said. "I do what I need to do for the team so we can get the win. It doesn't matter who scores, who makes a good play, as long as we get points up on the board we're in a good position."

Menaul was within 10 points (60-50) one last time with 40 seconds remaining, but Texico scored the game's last three. Dalton Thatcher helped the Wolverines close it out by going 5-for-6 from the foul line during the fourth period, his last ever at Texico Sports Arena.

Now it's on to play Mora, a familiar opponent for the Wolverines. They met at Texico's pre-holiday tournament in December, with Texico surviving 76-65 in double overtime.

"They've got a good team," Coach Thatcher said of Mora, "got a new coach (Marco Sánchez) mid-season. And that makes it a little bit interesting, a little bit challenging, preparing with a new guy coming in, who hasn't much film to work with. They're a quality team and they're scrappy. No. 22 - I don't remember his name right off the top of my head (junior Jerome Pacheco) - but he was a good player, he hurt us inside a little bit."

Mora earned its spot in Wednesday's 11:30 a.m.quarterfinal by taking care of 12th-seeded Eunice 57-45 on Saturday.

"They're looking to keep their season alive as well," Davis said. "We played them earlier this season and fortunately won, but we just have to keep our heads up and go after 'em."