2A boys: Texico repeats as champions, honors late classmate

Texico coach Craig Cook entered the Pit on Saturday morning feeling so at ease, it was almost uncanny.

Perhaps the lack of championship-game butterflies could be attributed to his confidence in his team, which recorded 25 double-digit victories during the 2025-26 season. The last of those came on Saturday, when the top-seeded Wolverines (30-2) captured a second consecutive blue trophy with a 58-46 victory over No. 6 Rehoboth (24-7) in the Class 2A championship game.

It’s the seventh title-game victory overall for the Texico boys basketball program, and the second time the school has won back-to-back championships. The Wolverines also captured consecutive crowns under Richard Luscombe in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

“It's creating a culture of champions, and that's what we got right now,” Cook said. “I had zero nerves walking into this game today, and I don't know why. As a competitor, you sometimes look forward to that, but then I turn around and I look at these kids and the focus that they have and the drive that they have and the love and the bonds that they create together— man, this is special.”

Texico landed a big punch early, and the Lynx never recovered. The Wolverines scored the first 10 points of the game — all at the rim — and led wire-to-wire against their upstart adversary.

“I think we always end up in good shape if we start out fast,” said senior forward Bennett Wahlen, who had four of his 12 points during that early surge. “A couple games in the season, we had struggles starting out slow, and I think that was one of the talking points … I think once we started out fast and got some quick points, all the nerves went away, and we just started playing our basketball.”

The Wolverines led by 13 at halftime and kept Rehoboth at arm’s length for the majority of the second half. The Lynx got to within eight points on a couple of occasions, but Texico would let them get no closer. The Wolverines were especially dominant inside, outscoring Rehoboth by 38-16 in the paint. Trajen West led Rehoboth with 23 points, but the Lynx couldn’t match Texico’s depth. The Wolverines held a 14-0 advantage in bench points.

Junior guard Jett Curtis had a team-high 17 points for Texico, which had eight different players score over the course of the game. For Curtis and the rest of the Wolverines, it was about more than just adding to the trophy case — it was about building a bond.

“Being able to do it twice with these guys in this room, being able to come up here to Albuquerque and hang out for a few days, grow together, that means everything,” Curtis said. “The basketball was so fun, and it was so great, but I would not want to be with any other group of guys ever.”

PAYING TRIBUTE: The Wolverines played with heavy hearts all week following the loss of Texico student athlete Luciano Miranda, who died in a car crash in Clovis early Sunday morning. The team put Miranda’s Texico jerseys — he played football and baseball — on display in the media room on Saturday as they celebrated their championship win.

“Monday was an absolute tough day for us,” Cook said. “To be able to come through that weekend and to come together and to honor his memory, Luciano was a special kid. It’s an absolute tragedy.”