Melrose boys get by Quemado, advance to 1A title game

BERNALILLO – Yes, the Melrose boys basketball team is heading to Saturday morning’s Class A state championship game at The Pit in Albuquerque.

But no, Thursday’s semifinal victory was not another Buffalo stampede as most of their games have been this season.

The Buffs did beat Quemado 55-39 Thursday at Bernalillo High School, a solid margin indeed. Earlier in the game, though, even well into the second half, things were a little sticky.

The Buffaloes prevailed, however, seizing control by the third quarter’s end and never relinquishing it. They are headed to the big game, ready to rise early Saturday and tip off at 8 a.m.

“Yeah, we’re excited,” Melrose head coach Kevin Lackey said. “All that work, all that practice, and now we’ve come down to that one game where we’ve got to execute and play well. But that’s the position we wanted to be in before we set out. The first day of practice, that’s what we talked about.”

“It’s a very exciting feeling,” Melrose senior Blake DeVaney said. “Not many people get to say they played in The Pit.”

Getting that ticket punched, though, was far from a certainty earlier on. Thursday’s game was locked in an 11-all tie at the end of the first quarter. Melrose did pick it up a bit in the second, and had constructed a 25-16 lead by halftime.

Nine-point advantage. Holding an opponent to just five second-quarter points. Tristan Sena putting one back for Melrose to begin the third-quarter scoring and giving his team a 27-16 edge. lt seemed momentum was clearly on the Buffaloes’ side.

Not so fast. Quemado’s Adrian Lackey — Kevin’s nephew — was fouled shooting from three-point territory and sank all three shots, pulling the Eagles within eight. And soon, Quemado’s Kenneth Atwood knocked down a trey, making it a 27-22 game.

“They were on a 6-0 run right there,” Lackey said. “But our kids are tough, physically and mentally.”

“We just told each other to keep calm,” DeVaney said. “We knew going in that they were a good team. ... And there were going to be stretches where it was going to get close.”

Melrose not only kept calm, but took control. On the Buffaloes’ next possession, Tristan Sena hit 1-for-2 from the foul line, stretching the margin to six. And on Quemado’s next possession, Sterling Sena came up with a steal, leading to a DeVaney basket that gave the Buffs a 30-22 advantage.

Sterling Sena collected another steal on Quemado’s next possession, soon resulting in Tristan Sena scoring two of his game-high 18 inside to make it a 32-22 game.

Quemado couldn’t score on the other end, and when Melrose took over again, Jordan Jasso scored inside, increasing his team’s lead to 34-22.

A Lackey layup brought the Eagles within 10, but back the other way, Carson Fraze nailed a right-elbow trey and Melrose was up 37-24. On a later third-quarter possession, Jasso scored inside again, handing the Buffaloes a 39-24 advantage late in the third.

From there on, Quemado never climbed closer than 12.

The Buffs (28-3) will now have today to prepare for the season’s last challenge.

“It’s going to be a good one,” Lackey said. “We’ve worked, we’ve gone through early-morning practices as a team, hoping that if the time came that we would be playing this 8 o’clock game.”

“It’s always a nervous rush running out at The Pit,” DeVaney said. “Basketball-wise, we’ll be OK.”