Escalante boys basketball was down to just eight players. So coach Isaac Royston, adding depth to the team, called up four players from the junior varsity roster. And those players were able to give breaks to the starters and see the court throughout the week at the Northern Rio Grande Tournament.
The Escalante Lobos (10-4) rallied after a disappointing first-round loss to take the consolation bracket championship while rolling past McCurdy and Mora.
Escalante battled with eventual champion Pecos in the first round. When the two teams met Dec. 18, Pecos was shorthanded after a COVID-19 outbreak, leading to a dominant Escalante win. Now, the Panthers were at full strength with an array of talent.
Pecos scored the first 11 points, but Escalante rallied back to 15-14 by the end of the first quarter, and trailed by three points at halftime, despite star guard Santiago Rivas — averaging 26.7 points per game before the tournament — going scoreless in the first half.
“It was probably the worst game of the season for us,” said senior Gilbert Martinez. “We just let them get up and down the court way too easily.”
The Panthers, though, won the momentum battle almost immediately in the second half, as Escalante continued to struggle to have their shots fall. They fell behind by 20 while allowing 27 points in the third quarter. A late run brought the score to within seven points, but Pecos closed out the game from the free-throw line.
“We didn’t mesh together like we usually do,” Martinez said. “We played off tonight, the whole night, just from the start.”
“We just were flat the whole entire game,” Royston said. “We found our stroke midway through the fourth quarter, but it was a little bit too late by then.”
Despite an early tipoff the next morning after their evening game, leaving early after getting home late, the Lobos came back out ready to play against McCurdy.
“I thought it was going to be really tough,” Royston said. “But as soon as they got on the bus, it was all business.”
Escalante went up 22-8 in the first quarter and Rivas had 15 points by halftime, and the junior varsity players were able to take the court for much of the second half. Royston said the team started running the offense much more effectively.
Then, Rivas scored 10 straight points himself in the first quarter of the consolation championship against Mora, with the defense clamping down on the Rangers.
But Mora rallied back to take a lead earlier in the third quarter. Escalante was without key players Isaac Archuleta and Chris Luna through the game.
From there, though, the Lobos took over with a big run, taking a big lead through the fourth quarter. Rivas finished with 29 points and four of the team’s 22 steals in his return to form in the game.
Royston said it meant more just to get the win, and show they could rebound from a tough loss, than to receive the consolation trophy.
Escalante defeated Cuba on Monday, 67-26, despite 2-18 3-point shooting from the team, after going ahead 26-3 in the first quarter. Rivas scored 22 points and Torrez recorded a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
The Lobos head into district play next week in a tight and competitive race with Mesa Vista and Peñasco — with Escalante playing neither after falling into the consolation bracket.
“We come in with the mindsight that we’re a winning team,” Martinez said. “I think we can beat any team in the state.”