Española Valley’s Ray Romero dropped to the floor of the Pit after Artesia’s Derek Montoya hit a jumper to end the Sundevils’ quest for their first state basketball championship.
Romero had just experienced the ultimate high and the ultimate low in the space of one game. Romero’s long three-pointer at the end of regulation had tied the game at 41-41 and sent the Española fans into a frenzy and both teams into the first of three overtime periods.
“It was one of the greatest shots ever,” Española coach Richard Martinez said.
But sadness awaited Romero and the rest of the Sundevil faithful at the end of the final overtime. That’s when Montoya made a shot with less than a second left to propel the Bulldogs past Española 58-56 March 12 in the semifinals of the Class AAAA state basketball tournament.
Montoya’s basket had brought the Sundevils crashing down for the second straight year in the semifinals. His winning shot came after Artesia was awarded the ball out-of-bounds under the basket with one second left in the third overtime. Artesia’s Koby Caton lobbed the ball to Montoya, who caught it in air and put it up in one motion.
“It was a playground play,” Montoya said. “I made eye contact with Koby and that was the signal for the lob.”
Matt Brito led Española with 21 points. He left the court with his face twisted by the agony of defeat.
“I’m at a loss for words; it came down to the last play,” he said. “They got the ball out of bounds, lobbed it, that was game.”
Senior Daniel Archuleta, Brito and many Española fans thought Artesia never should have had the ball at the end of the game.
“I’m kinda upset, on that last call the ball came off (the Artesia player’s) face,” Archuleta said.
Martinez chose not to comment on the play.
“If they can live with the calls, so can I,” he said.
Some frustrated Española fans vented their displeasure by tossing water and soda bottles on the Pit floor. Some of the debris appeared to be aimed at officials.
“We will be investigating it,” Mario Martinez, of the New Mexico Activities Association, said. “We’re not going to just forget about it. It’s sad that 20 to 30 people can spoil the reputation for the rest of the fans.”
Richard Martinez declined to take his team to the media interview room after the game. Instead, the team gathered near the south exit area of the Pit to prepare to board the bus. There an upset Española fan had to be escorted from the Pit to keep him from physically confronting Martinez.
It was a sad ending to what was a hard fought game and an outstanding season for the Sundevils.
The Sundevils had surged ahead in the first quarter against Artesia behind junior forward Luis Alvarado, who started the game by burying a three-pointer and added another to give Española a 13-6 lead. Montoya kept Artesia in the game, scoring 10 of his game-high 37 points in the first quarter.
Española took its biggest lead of the game, 23-15, in the second quarter after a basket by Romero. But Montoya continued to punish the Sundevils from the inside. His three-point play near the end of the first half cut the Sundevils’ lead to 28-23. An apparent putback by Archuleta near the buzzer was waved off by an official and that was the score at halftime.
The score was 32-32 when Ryan Salazar scored on a driving reverse layup to give Española a 34-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Brito banged in a pair of baskets to give the Sundevils a 38-32 lead. The Sundevils and Martinez went to a familiar tactic, spreading the court and trying to create lanes to drive to the basket, with Brito being the primary ball handler.
The Sundevils had used similar stalling tactics in the District 2AAAA championship game against Los Alamos Feb. 28, holding the ball over three minutes while clinging to a one-point fourth quarter lead in their 56-49 victory.
They had used it again in the Class AAAA quarterfinals at the Pit March 11 when they knocked off three-time defending champion St. Pius X 54-51 to advance to the semifinals.
Artesia had seen the tape of the Los Alamos game. They were ready for the stall.
“When they went into the stall, we felt we had a chance to win,” Montoya said. “If they had kept attacking the basket we would have been forced to foul them or given them layups. We had a chance to get some turnovers.”
Using a clinging man-to-man defense, the Bulldogs held Española scoreless for five minutes and forced four turnovers. Montoya put the Bulldogs ahead with his third three-point play of the game with barely a minute left in regulation. It was Artesia’s first lead.
Española missed a pair of shots and Montoya added two more free throws with 16 seconds left to give Artesia a 41-38 lead, setting the stage for Romero. Española had the ball out of bounds with time running out.
With Artesia hounding Brito and expecting him to handle the ball with 4.4 seconds left, Española crossed up the defense by having Brito bring the ball in. Romero came open and buried what could have been the biggest shot in Española’s history.
In the first overtime, each team scored just four points. The Sundevils had a chance when Salazar forced a turnover with 13.5 left in the period, but Brito missed a shot just before the buzzer.
In the second overtime, Brito sank a pair of free throws to give Española a 51-50 lead with 41 seconds left. Montoya tied the game 12 seconds later with a free throw. Romero missed a three-pointer before the buzzer and the score remained tied.
Artesia coach Isidro Montoya, Derek Montoya’s father, tried to keep his team loose.
“‘Is this not a great atmosphere?’ I said to them,” Montoya said. “I was trying to keep them relaxed, and I couldn’t be nothing but happy with the way the game was going.”
In the third overtime, Española’s Aaron Aragon tied the score at 56 with 53 seconds left, setting the stage for Derek Montoya.
“After the ball bounced a couple of times, I knew we weren’t going to keep playing, “ Derek Montoya said.
Artesia would lose to Roswell 59-50 in the Class AAAA championship March 14 in the Pit.
Many of Española’s disappointed fans were unhappy with Martinez’s stalling tactics, but the Sundevil coach stood by his decision.
“We stuck with what we do, but Artesia didn’t give us a lot of lanes to the basket,” Martinez said. “We had our chances.”