The Pojoaque Valley High School boys basketball team was in need of some homecookin’.
The Elks (5-6) hadn’t played a single home game all season before its hosting of the 19th annual boys Ben Luján Tournament — and they made the most of the opportunity.
Pojoaque advanced to the championship game Dec. 22 on its home floor at Ben Luján Gymnasium after wins over Escalante High School and Menaul School, but was unable to hang for four quarters with Reyes Herrera and the Bernalillo High School Spartans, who took down the Elks 71-55 to hoist the tournament championship.
Herrera, the sharp shooting senior, was held to three points in the first quarter, but he exploded for 11 in the third, which included his own personal 9-0 run. He finished with a game-high 29 points.
“He’s shifty and once he got a screen from his big guy, it was all about communication,” Pojoaque guard Jacen Lujan said. “We communicated poorly a couple times and left him open for easy looks.”
The Elks fell behind 17-6 after the first quarter, then captivated a 13-0 run after trailing 25-13 in the second quarter. Dante Ortiz finished the run with a layup with 1:43 remaining in the half to give Pojoaque a 26-24 lead.
“Our effort was better at that time and we just hustled,” Lujan said. “All those little things we’ve been working on back to the summer came out to help us and everyone in the locker room contributed.”
Trailing 27-26 at the half, Ortiz and Marcos Vigil came flying out of the locker room and hit consecutive 3-pointers for Pojoaque in a run of five straight baskets from beyond the arch between the two teams.
Vigils’ 3-pointer with six minutes remaining gave Pojoaque a 35-32 advantage, but the Spartans would respond and end the quarter on 16-4 run.
“We were taking our shots and throwing our punches,” Pojoaque head coach Thomas Vigil said. “They just dodged and countered every single thing that we did. Credit to them, they were well-coached and they got some horses.”
Bernalillo led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before the final buzzer.
Ortiz led Pojoaque with 14 points, Nathan Valdez had 11 and Marcos Vigil and Sean Aragon both added 10.
Pojoaque played its best ball of the tournament when its defense stepped up to the table and Thomas Vigil was most happy about that effort against the Spartans.
“Bernalillo has four really, really good guards,” he said. “They’re top of the class type guards, so the fact that we were able to bother them in such a way, it gave us a lot of momentum but we just weren’t able to sustain it. The live ball turnovers and steals we had in the open court gave us opportunities.”
Pojoaque’s quest to the championship game began Dec. 20 in the opening round versus a stingy group from Class 2A’s Escalante.
The Lobos gave the Elks all they could handle, but Pojoaque would prevail 47-43 in overtime.
Their semifinal matchup against the Panthers from Menaul featured a similar defensive surge like the one against Bernalillo, this time coming in the third quarter in route to outscore the Panthers 19-9 after trailing 23-22 at halftime.
The key play of the game to help Pojoaque separate came with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter when Aragon took the ball to the hoop in a relentless effort and finished off a 3-point play at the foul line, plus two additional free throws after Menaul’s Santiago Henry was hit with a technical foul.
Pojoaque retained possession after the technical shots and Aragon’s five-point swing gave the Elks a 55-41 lead and allowed them to coast the rest of the way to 57-45 win.
“That was a huge turning point in that game,” Thomas Vigil said. “It gave us a big cushion and it just wasn’t the points, it was us getting the ball back and if we have the ball again, then Menaul isn’t scoring.”
The Elks came into the tournament at 3-5 and had lost contests to tough squads from Pecos High School, Santa Fe High School and St. Michael’s High School, but Thomas Vigil said his team grew up a whole lot and exited the tournament a much tougher team.
“Our biggest hurdles right now are still all mental,” he said. “Our district is not going to be easy. Matter of fact, it’s going to be all out wars, so this really helped us mature for that recipe of good coaches and good teams that will make our district a challenge.”
“We’re pretty proud (about making the championship game),” Lujan added. “But, we’re still hungry and definitely not satisfied.”
Pojoaque’s next stop will be Jan. 3-5 at the Ruidoso Mountain Madness Shootout, with their first round matchup coming against Silver High School, who defeated the Elks in consolation 38-27 at the Sandia Prep Invitational earlier this season.
They will not return home until Jan. 12 when Albuquerque Academy travels to Pojoaque.