The Pojoaque Elks came from behind in the final two minutes of the game to take a 49-45 victory over the Ruidoso Warriors March 6 in the opening round of the Class AAA state tournament.
The Elks advance to the quarterfinals Wednesday (3/11) at the Santa Ana Star Center.
The Elks were trailing the Ruidoso Warriors 45-42 after a putback basket by Ruidoso’s Keith Brower. The lead could have grown by two more points had a baseline jumper by the Warriors’ Ralph Miranda gone in, but the ball bounced off the rim and into the hands of Pojoaque’s Ryan Sullivan, who spotted teammate Luke Salazar streaking downcourt.
Sullivan threw a long pass to Salazar, who ran down the ball and sank a breakaway layup that made the score 45-44 with 2:13 left in the game.
“I just looked downcourt to see if anyone was there,” Sullivan said. “It was an easy basket.”
Ruidoso gave the ball back to Pojoaque 30 seconds later when Andrew Gilliland was called for charging. Salazar lost control of the ball while trying to penetrate, and Ruidoso regained possession on the turnover with 1:17 left to play.
The Elks, however, got the ball right back when Gilliland’s long pass the length of the court went out-of-bounds.
On the ensuing possession, Justin Trujillo drove to the basket, but his layup bounced off the rim. Pojoaque’s B. J. Roybal grabbed the rebound and scored on a putback, drawing a foul. Roybal led Pojoaque with 13 points battling inside against the taller 6-foot-4-inch Brower.
“I’ve gotten used to being inside against bigger guys,” Roybal said.
He missed his free throw, however, leaving the Elks clinging to a 46-45 lead with 59 seconds left.
Tom Nakotte stole the ball from Ruidioso on the Warriors’ next possession, but missed an open layup. The ball ended up in the hands of Pojoaque senior Orlando Trujillo with 25.9 seconds left. He was fouled.
Trujillo, the only returning starter from last year’s Class AAA state championship team, sank both free throws to give the Elks a 48-45 lead.
“I’ve shot free throws at the end of the game before,” he said. “I clear my mind, keep my elbow in, use good form and bend my knees.”
After a Ruidoso timeout, the Warriors got the ball inside to Miranda, but Nakotte swatted his shot away. A three-pointer by Ruidoso was off the mark and Roybal was fouled on the rebound.
With 6.9 seconds left, Roybal made one of his two free throws to give Pojoaque a 49-45 lead. The Warriors went home and the Elks moved on to Albuquerque.
“We came up with some stops when we needed to,” Pojoaque coach Joey Trujillo said. “Tom Nakotte had a big block and Orlie was ice at the line.”
Pojoaque had struggled on offense in the second half, scoring just seven points in the third quarter. The Warriors had erased a 29-24 halftime deficit after nine straight points by Mario Varela gave the Warriors a 33-31 lead. Ruidoso led 37-36 going into the fourth quarter.
Pojoaque was to face a familiar foe, District 2AAA rival St. Michaels, in the quarterfinals. The game was scheduled for 8:15 p.m. St. Michaels defeated Pojoaque three times this season and has won 14 consecutive games over the Elks.
“We just had to believe that the thing that was going to take us back to the championship was heart,” Roybal said.