With both teams limited in foul trouble, the Escalante Lobos had to dig deep into their bench, much more they expected entering the game or what they normally would.
But the back of the bench for Escalante ultimately came up huge in the biggest game of their careers, with a big third-and-fourth-quarter run led by players like Jacobo Chavez, Nathaniel Martinez and Adamacio Bustamante ultimately providing the difference in the game.
“It was a bit nervous at first,” said Bustamante, who played in less than half of Escalante’s games this season. “And then as soon as you get that momentum from your teammates and the people on your bench, you start to get it in your adrenaline. And you just go out and show what you can do.”
Players off the bench played some of their biggest roles of the season, and came through when it mattered to lead No. 6 seed Escalante to a 70-57 first-round state boys basketball tournament win over No. 11 Mesa Vista win at home on Saturday.
“They really stepped it up,” Escalante coach Isaac Royston said. “I thought that we’d get them in … and maybe we might drop a few points and kind of hold the lead a little bit. And that’s when we stretched out the lead, actually was with the bench players. I can’t say enough about how well they played.”
The game sold out the roughly 800-seat gymnasium in Tierra Amarilla, and just about every seat was taken well over an hour before the game started. And both sides were loud and excited throughout the game.
After starting the year 2-5, Escalante has won 18 of their last 20 games, and now ride a 10-game win streak into the state quarterfinal.
Luka Torrez led both teams with 22 points in the game, with 13 of them coming on free throws. Jordan Gallegos led Mesa Vista with 19 points.
Chavez averaged 2.6 points in the regular season, though roughly half of his points came in a three-game stretch where Torrez was out. This game, he scored seven, and was on the court for most of the second half. Bustamante had scored just 10 points the entire regular season, but added four in this game with two key baskets as Escalante was pulling away.
“I just came to play,” Chavez said. “I don’t care how many minutes I get.”
Escalante had the first score of the game, but the lead swung back and forth for much of the first half, as foul trouble built for both teams. The Lobos led by two at the end of the first quarter and again at halftime. Most starters on both teams entered halftime with two or three fouls.
Mesa Vista kept close in the second half, until late in the third quarter when Escalante started to pull away, as more and more players picked up their fourth foul, including Torrez. But a late run by the bench stretched the lead to 10 by the end of the third quarter, and early in the fourth quarter they continued to build the lead up to as many as 17 points.
“The third quarter’s always been our quarter, all season,” Bustamante said. “We finally stepped it up, and showed the world what we can do.”
The Lobos next play No. 3 Texico, who defeated No. 14 Dulce by 13 in the first round, on Wednesday in the Rio Rancho Events Center.
“We have the squad to do it, we can do it,” Bustamante said. “We’ve just got to show them what we can do.”
The loss gave a disappointing end to the careers of Mesa Vista’s seniors, who made the tournament for the first time in their careers, including a core of Anjel Montoya, Jordan Cervantes and Brandon Sandoval that had been together throughout high school.
“That’s a very special team, and we wouldn’t have wanted to play it any other way,” Cervantes said.
After the game, Mesa Vista came out of the locker room despite the emotional loss, and in a great show of sportsmanship went back onto the court to give all of their opponents hugs before leaving on the bus.
“They’re all friends,” Royston said. “It really makes you feel good when they come up, and they tell you as a coach, ‘Coach it’s been an honor to play against you.’ And I love them kids, they’ve always been real respectful with us. Yeah, we’re competitors on the court. But as soon as we come off the court, we’re the best of friends.”