It was one fourth-quarter possession that seemed to change the game.
Trey Archuleta gave a good pass to Greysen Horan, but his 3-pointer barely missed. Luka Torrez fought hard and grabbed an offensive rebound, then took a three himself, but also just missed. Another offensive rebound, another open three, and another miss. A third rebound, a missed shot, a fourth rebound, another open three, but this time it bounced long, and became a fast break for Texico.
And instead of being down by three points with about five minutes remaining, if any of those shots had gone in, Escalante was down eight. After that, the game never seemed to be the same. Texico soon stretched their lead to double digits, sapping all momentum.
Though at some moments it looked like they might be poised to pull off an upset, the No. 6 seed Escalante Lobos lost their state quarterfinal to No. 3 Texico on Wednesday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Turnovers and a shooting percentage differential were the main differences in the game, ultimately giving the edge to the Wolverines.
“The ball sometimes bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t,” Escalante coach Isaac Royston said. “My hat’s off to Texico. They’re a really good team. They played better than us.”
Atencio led the Lobos’ effort with 17 points and four assists, while Horan added 16. Alex Fuentes finished as the leading scorer for Texico with 20.
Texico’s two top players, Jahvon Askew and Cade Figg battled foul trouble throughout the game, and both fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Askew was held scoreless in the second half.
“I don’t know where (Fuentes) came out of,” Royston said. “Everybody we talked to, and based off the film was, we need to stop (Askew) and (Figg). And (Fuentes) comes out of nowhere and puts up 20 on us.”
Smith Taye also came off the bench at center and tormented Escalante the entire game.
“I could’ve sworn the kid must have had twenty (points),” Escalante coach Isaac Royston said after the game while looking at the stat sheet. “Now I’m realizing he only had nine. It felt like he had like 20 on us.”
Escalante was killed by 28 turnovers in the game. It seemed they were not used to a team as quick and with as much length as Texico, and passes they had made all season were suddenly intercepted and going the other way.
Texico shot a whopping 68 percent in the second half, compared to 28 percent for Escalante, and 57 percent for the game. Late in the game especially, it seemed that Escalante had every shot rim out. Texico also used their size and quickness to defend well.
“Whenever you were driving to the basket, when you’d get those pick and roll plays, there was like two guys always on me,” Atencio said. “Whenever I would try to look up and try to find another one of my players, it was hard because they were right there. I was frustrated trying to get the ball out.”
And star player Torrez finished just 1-for-12 in the game. While the selfless player said he could have passed up some of those shots to teammates, most of them were good looks that just missed or were well defended by Texico’s height in the paint.
“I feel like I could have done a lot better, maybe passed a lot more,” Torrez said.
In the opening minutes, Escalante looked lost on offense against a big and fast team. But as they picked up their pace, the plays started working. After falling down 5-0, Jayden Salazar opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Escalante trailed 12-11 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Escalante’s offense picked up more, though Luka Torrez started to battle foul trouble with a second and then third foul.
Escalante took a lead, though Askew checked back in and immediately made a ridiculous, off-balance twisting layup. But Escalante seemed to have things going their way, and was looking to end the half on a run as they led by three. But Figg hit a deep contested 3-pointer, and ultimately Texico went into the locker room with a one-point lead.
“This is the state tournament,” Texico coach Craig Cook said. “And no team’s going to go down easy. We knew scrap was going to happen, and they were a scrappy team.”
In the third quarter, Monte Faulkner picked up a technical foul right after Figg hit another 3-pointer to open the half, and he sat for the rest of the game, shortening Escalante’s already tight bench. That also turned into a 7-0 run for the Wolverines and a big lead.
Askew picked up his fourth foul on a score-and-foul from Horan, and Escalante was down by two and seemed poised for a run. But instead the Wolverines hit a few baskets and expanded the lead into the fourth quarter.
“We were finally scoring,” Royston said. “But we weren’t getting stops. That’s been our quarter. And this game here, yeah we scored 18 (in the third quarter), which isn’t that bad, but we gave up 22.”
Escalante hung tough, but as their shots started missing more and more, Texico built the lead up higher, and they hit layups and forced turnovers. They built a lead up to 15 before a final basket by Escalante.
“It wasn’t for a lack of effort,” Royston said. “These guys fight until the bitter end.”
Royston made use of the final minute to give the back of the bench playing time in a state tournament game.
“This is what you look forward to,” he told them. “This is how hard it is to even get here.”
Escalante beat expectations this year after losing almost the entire team from 2021-22, making it just as far in the state tournament with fewer star players. The Lobos should return strongly, with Atencio the only senior starter, though he will be hard to replace (as seen at times during the season when he was off the court). The returning players now have state tournament experience and a bitter taste after the loss. And Torrez proved to be an elite player who should continue to improve.
“The future looks bright,” Royston said. “It just hurts right now.”