The Taos High School varsity boys basketball team split their two-game, back-to-back homestand against Bloomfield with a win (59–43) and a loss to Robertson High School (78–54).
The Taos Tigers took on the Robertson Cardinals at the end of the homestand Saturday (Dec. 14). To start the game, the Tigers stayed neck and neck with the Cardinal but failed to score double-digits against their visitors in the second and third quarters. Despite their 25-point push in the fourth quarter, the Tigers' offensive woes kept them from winning the game.
Before this matchup, Taos boys head coach Hernando Chavez knew Robertson was going to challenge them despite their lower classification.
“Robertson is one of the best teams in the state, regardless of class,” Chavez said. “They’re a really solid team, and a team that’s played in the state championship game in the past three years or so. We know that coming in tomorrow night will be a dog fight.”
Cardinal senior Jesse James Gonzales led the Robertson squad in scoring with 26 points. Sophomore center Nathan Gonzales scored 23 to add to the win. Gonzales shot 75 percent on the floor and sank 6 three-pointers against their hosts. The center had 4 threes as well. Chavez praised their visitors for how they come out against his squad. He hopes to figure out how to slow them before their next bout.
“They’re a relentless and aggressive team. When you catch them on a night like tonight, with 14 threes at the end of the game, they’ll be really tough to beat,” Chavez said. “What ultimately made the difference was when they delivered their punch, we didn’t come back and deliver one of our own. There’s levels to all of this, and we’re going to have to be able to level up. We got another shot in about a week and a half or so. We’ll have to be tougher mentally than we were tonight.”
For the Tigers, junior center Malakhai Ely led the Taos squad with 18 points and 11 rebounds while junior Mario Rodriguez had 8 points. Taos senior Mateo Salazar and junior Roman Quintana had eight boards each and combined for seven assists.
Against Bloomfield
Against Bloomfield the day before (Dec. 13), the Bobcats got the bad end of Friday the 13th game against the hosting Tigers, with a final score of 59–43.
In this game, the Tigers built a healthy lead against their visitors with a 19–13 first quarter. Taos shut down Bloomfield in the second, limiting the Bobcats to 3 points while they went on a 13-point run. Despite a slow fourth quarter, the Tigers stayed ahead to win the game.
Taos senior Trevor Tibljas and junior Roman Quntana had 15 points each in this game, followed by senior Mateo Salazar who had 8 points and led the team in assists with five. Quintana was perfect from the three-point line with 3 made while Tibljas contributed six rebounds. Ely led the team with seven rebounds, one steal and two blocks. Salazar spoke highly of the team’s effort on offense against the Bobcats.
“I think it was our ball movement. We finally decided to share around the ball more, and it worked out for us,” Salazar said after the game.
Coach Chavez said their quick start and defense contributed to their win over Bloomfield.
“I like our quick start, and I thought that was predicated on our defense. I think that’s probably the most we scored in the first so far this season,” Chavez said after the win. “Offensively, I feel like we’re starting to find our timing. The guys are starting to believe the idea of playing inside out, getting paint touches and work from there. I was impressed with our third quarter. We had a good transition game, and we were able to get some easy buckets.”
With these games on the books and a win against the Bernalillo Spartans on Tuesday (Dec. 17), the Tigers stand at 4-2. After Christmas day (Dec. 26), the Tigers will travel to Las Vegas to play in the Stu Clark Tournament to face Robertson again in the first round of the competition.
Lady Tigers win against St. Michaels and Peñasco
Taos High School's girls varsity basketball team broke even for the season after beating Peñasco High School Saturday (Dec. 14) at 39–24 combined with an earlier win against visiting St. Michael’s High School Wednesday (Dec. 11) with a final score of 41–35.
Before their away game against the Lady Panthers Saturday at Northern New Mexico College in Española, Taos girls head coach Gwen Thibadeau acknowledged their opponent’s strength and said they would come at them with whatever they have in store.
“It doesn’t really matter what they’re going to bring us,” Thibadeau said after the victory over St. Michael's. “We’re going to go hard, press, create turnovers and work together. We are going to go and get it done."
Taos senior Julianna Flores led the team with 18 points, followed by senior Ciera Castillo with 6. As for the Lady Panthers, freshman Katalina Atencio led the Peñasco squad, followed by senior Alyssa Atencio with 5.
In their previous game against St. Michael's, the Lady Tigers got past the Lady Horsemen early in the contest with an 8–4 run on the first quarter. The St. Michael’s squad did outscore the Lady Tigers in the following quarter but had a lackluster performance coming out of the half with 6 points in the third.
In this win, Lady Tiger’s Julianna Flores led with 19 points, followed by senior Jasmine Mondragon with 12. Senior Ciera Castillo led the team in rebounds with four, and three Lady Tigers had three boards each to contribute: sophomore Coco Sanchez, senior Alexis Moyer, and Flores.
“They worked so hard on defense. I am really proud of that aspect because they helped each other,” Thibadeau said. “I was proud of them pressing, creating turnovers, pushing hard for scores. That’s the most important thing is that we are working together as a team. Two things we have to improve on are our shots from the free throw line and our rebounds to get second shots on those missed shots.”
The Taos girls are now 3–3 in the season after winning over the Lady Horsemen and Panthers. Today, the Lady Tigers face a 3–1 Lady Chargers of the Albuquerque Academy in the St. Michael’s tournament’s first round with a 2:45 p.m. tip-off.
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