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Texico boys rout Logan

TEXICO — Texico’s boys basketball team has at times this season pulled mid-game disappearing acts.

Fortunately for the Wolverines on Saturday night, they reappeared in plenty of time to rout Logan, 67-46, at Texico High School.

Ahead by 14 late in the first quarter and still up by 11 early in the second, Texico saw its lead shaved to three by midway through that second period. But then the Wolverines turned it on again, led by 11 late in the half, by nine at the break, and pulled away in the second half to win by 21.

“They did a great job of getting momentum back in our favor,” Texico head coach Craig Cook said. “Three games in one week is always tough. And we’ve gone through kids getting sicknesses and some other circumstances with injuries that are keeping us from having our full team. This is our first game in probably two or three weeks that we’ve had all eight plus the kids that we’ve brought up. And we were able to make those adjustments together.”

“Texico’s a good team,” Logan head coach Kyle Griffiths said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys that are trying to work into the system, and we go through stretches where we’re kind of up and down. I thought overall the boys played hard; it’s just one of those games where shots aren’t really falling, and playing a tough team, sometimes that happens.”

Texico was ahead 20-6 late in the opening quarter and 20-8 going into the second. The Wolverines led 21-10 when Logan began mounting a comeback, embarking on an 11-3 run – including four points from Michael Sena, three from Matthew Norman and two each from Wyatt Wright and Dante Sanchez – that trimmed Texico’s lead to just 24-21.

The Longhorns were playing with lots of energy. The Wolverines seemed to have lost theirs.

“And that’s been our struggle,” Cook said.

But that struggle was just temporary on Saturday. Though the Wolverines lead was still just 28-23 with plenty of time remaining in the second quarter, Luke Phipps scored two of his 18 points off a backdoor cutter to make it a seven-point game. Texico’s next possession ended with a pair of Phipps free throws at the second quarter’s 3:21 mark, and the Wolverine possession after that was concluded by freshman Jahvon Askew putting in a driving shot off glass.

Jason Knight ended the Longhorns’ drought with a running one-hander from the right side, narrowing Logan’s deficit to 34-25 by halftime.

Wright hit inside to open the third-quarter scoring and bring the Longhorns within 34-27, and it was again a seven-point difference (36-29) a bit later in the period. But a leftside trey from Anders Nelson put Texico’s lead into the double-digit realm for the first time in the new half, and a Gabriel Bailey hoop from underneath stretched that lead to 41-29.

Sanchez hit a three to bring the Longhorns within single digits, but it turned out to be the last time they were there. Cade Collins went 1-of-2 from the line with 3:04 remaining in the third quarter, and 53 seconds later a fallaway from Phipps drew a foul as he hit the Texico gym floor with a thud. And when Phipps nailed the ensuing free throw it was a 45-32 game.

A Phipps layup and David Davalos free throw closed out the third-quarter scoring and gave Texico a 48-32 lead by the start of the fourth. Ruger Horton scored inside to open the new quarter’s scoring, which completed a 9-0 run for the Wolverines. Knight scored on Logan’s next possession to bring the Longhorns within 50-34, but the Wolverines were in control and the lead never shrunk to less than 13 again. The 21-point final difference marked Texico’s largest lead of the night.

“I’m proud of them for finding ways to gut it out,” Cook said. “It’s a lot better to see them mature through those grinds and pull it out in our favor than to not pull it out in our favor and then try to bounce back after a tough loss.”

Saturday’s victory was the Wolverines’ fourth straight since falling to Tatum in the Eastern Plains Athletic Conference tournament, and had them at 11-4 heading into Roswell for Tuesday night’s road game against New Mexico Military Institute.

Logan, meanwhile, was still a solid 11-8 after Saturday’s loss.

“There’s still a lot of learning going on,” Griffiths said. “I lost five seniors off last year’s team; there are still a lot of young guys who are working in, so there’s still a lot of development going on, lots of learning. But they’re coming along.”

 
 
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