Pojoaque’s Christian Baca found out firsthand what playing against a 6-foot, 11-inch Division I basketball recruit was like Dec. 23 in the Elks’ 60-48 loss to Los Alamos in the championship game of the Ben Lujan Invitational Tournament in Pojoaque.
Baca, a 6-foot-1-inch post, gave up 10 inches to Los Alamos’ star center Alex Kirk, who is headed to the University of New Mexico next year to play basketball. Kirk played up to expectations and his height advantage as he blocked 10 shots, including several of Baca’s attempts.
“We gave up and lost confidence, but got it back in the fourth quarter,” Baca said. “I have to give my teammates credit for coming back.”
Baca did not back down from Kirk and played a big part in Pojoaque’s comeback. He canned a three-pointer that cut the lead to five points with 2:25 left in the game. Kirk answered with a basket in the paint.
Kirk extended Los Alamos’ seven-point lead when he drove down the lane for a thunderous dunk, drew a foul and let out a yell. Despite the taunting chants of the Pojoaque crowd, he canned the free throw to make the score 58-48 with less than a minute left in the game. He finished with 27 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks for a triple double.
“It’s the percentages,” Los Alamos coach Alan Kirk, Alex Kirk’s father, said. “We know Pojoaque’s a good shooting (team), but they were shooting three-pointers and we were shooting layups. It’s about 30 percent for three-pointers and 70 percent for layups.”
The Elks sank nine three-pointers during the game, compared with one for Los Alamos. Baca had three and led Pojoaque with 14 points.
A bad second quarter by the Elks put Los Alamos in control and forced Pojoaque to play catchup the rest of the game.
The score was 13-11 in favor of Los Alamos after the first quarter. The Hilltoppers put together a 15-1 run that gave them a 28-12 lead. Kirk had just two of the Hilltoppers points during that surge, but his defensive presence helped fuel the run.
“In that stretch he blocked five or six shots,” Pojoaque coach Joey Trujillo said. “I think we started looking for him.”
A three-point play by Baca with Kirk on the bench and an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer by Pojoaque’s Luke Salazar made the score 28-18 at halftime.
Another Pojoaque three-pointer by Brian Montoya at the buzzer cut the Los Alamos lead to 43-35 at the end of the third quarter.
Los Alamos won its second straight Ben Lujan championship.
Trujillo came away with positive feeling about his team’s performance.
“I’m proud of my boys for not giving up and attacking the basket,” he said. “Later at the state tournament, we’re going to see tall teams like Sandia Prep and Hope Christian and I want them to be aggressive.”
The Elks advanced to the championship by knocking off Peñasco 76-58 Dec. 21 in the opening round and beating the Kirtland Central Broncos 72-55 in the semifinals. It was the Elks second victory over Kirtland in four days. Pojoaque had beaten the Broncos 51-47 Dec. 18 in Farmington.
In the rematch, Pojoaque seized control of the game with a 23-8 lead in the first quarter and led 39-19 at halftime. Salazar led the Elks with 25 points, including 17 in the first half. The Elks play Ruidoso Saturday at Pojoaque.