The Questa Wildcats took over first place in District 3AA Feb. 5 with a 44-41 victory over the Mesa Vista Trojans.
Questa improved to 2-0 in district play with the win in the Trojan’s home gym in Ojo Caliente.
“We fought all kinds of things tonight,” Questa coach Larry King said. “We were minus our center and that screwed up our rotation.”
With center Dominic Apodaca out with a sprained ankle suffered in practice Feb. 4, the five Wildcat starters — Danny Enciso, Felipe Sanchez, Richard Trujillo, Cristobal Gallegos, Jared Herrera — stayed on the court for nearly the entire game. Only when Herrera went out with his fifth foul with 2:09 left in the game did King substitute.
“I wanted to shorten the game a little bit,” King said. “This is a tremendous win for us.”
Herrera picked up three quick fouls in the first quarter, but the Wildcats ran a motion offense around the perimeter, taking time off the clock and looking for openings to score. The Wildcats led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter and 20-17 at halftime.
Despite using 12 players, the Trojans couldn’t use their numerical advantage in numbers and squandered numerous opportunities.
“We missed a ton of layups,” Mesa Vista coach Thomas Vigil said. “We had a lot of turnovers where we didn’t even get a shot.”
A disastrous third quarter by the Trojans gave Questa some breathing room. A three-pointer by Herrera finished off a 7-0 run by the Wildcats to start the second half, giving the Wildcats a 27-17 lead. Mesa Vista finally put points on the board at 3:35 of the third quarter on a pair of baskets by Ramon Trujillo. Questa answered with scores by Enciso and Gallegos to lead 31-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
“Putting up just four points in one quarter is never going to get it done against anybody,” Vigil said.
Frustrated with his team’s inability to score, Vigil inserted Evan Jaramillo, who normally plays on the junior varsity team, into the lineup, The sophomore shooter responded by hitting his first shot. Behind Jaramillo and senior Estevan Trujillo, the Trojans came storming back, tying the game 39-39 at 1:31 of the fourth quarter. Jaramillo and Estevan Trujillo combined for 15 fourth-quarter points.
Questa responded with a pair of free throws by Sanchez and a basket by Gallegos. Jaramillo scored to make it 43-41, but the Trojans missed two three-pointers and the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity in the last 30 seconds to lose by three points.
“We lost our effort for awhile,” Estevan Trujillo said. “Questa was getting more loose balls and more rebounds.”
The Trojans fell to 1-1 in District 3AA. They face Peñasco, also 1-1 district play, Wednesday (2/10) in Peñasco.
“The district is still wide open, “ Vigil said. ‘We’re up against the wall because we’re the ones who dropped one at home.”