3A-2A boys: Bosque hits last-second shot to upset Tularosa

RIO RANCHO — Bosque School provided the most dramatic ending of any boys game in this year’s state basketball tournament, hitting a last-second shot to upset Tularosa in the 3A quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

The Bobcats will meet top-seeded St. Michael’s in the semifinals. The Horsemen defeated last year’s champion Navajo Prep, 60-43.

No. 6 Santa Fe Indian School will be the lowest-seeded team in the semifinals after their 51-45 upset of third-seeded Tohatchi. The Braves will meet No. 2 Robertson, who beat crosstown rival and seventh-seed West Las Vegas 55-45.

The boys 2A bracket features the four top-seeded teams in the semifinals. It’ll be No. 1 Texico against No. 4 Pecos while No. 2 Mesa Vista and No. 3 Santa Rosa face off on the other half of the bracket.

No. 5 BOSQUE SCHOOL 51, No. 4 TULAROSA 49: No one is quite sure how the ball ended up in the hands of Bobcats wing Wesley Harrigan under the basket with the clock marching toward zero.

But Harrigan sure knew what to do with it once it fortuitously ended up in hands.

“I’m in the corner and I see Josiah (Wilson) get it and drive in,” Harrigan recalled.

“I knew he’s going to shoot that so I decide to cut down to the basket just in case he does miss to get the board and then he dropped it to me and I was able to finish it.”

The last-second win sends the Bobcats (22-7) to face top-seeded St. Michael’s on Friday at 9:45 a.m. in the Pit.

All Wildcats coach Sergio Castanon could do was shake head in recalling the pivotal play.

“We played good defense,” he said. “We got our hands on the ball and did exactly what we needed to do. And the ball ended up right in their hands. I told the guys afterward that when we got that deflection, that ball could have bounced 400 different ways. It could have bounced to 10 different guys and it bounced to that one and he was right under the basket. That’s why it’s sports.”

It put the damper on what had been a strong Tularosa (22-7) when it trailed the Bobcats several times six points in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats hit four 3-pointers in the fourth, but Luca Kalishman, who led all scorers with 17 points, and Owen Custer hitting 3s for Bosque to maintain the advantage.

But in the final two minutes, 3s from Jacoby Apachito and Estevan Barraza, who finished with 11 points, tied it at 49, setting up the wild finish.

“It wasn’t the way we drew it up but in the end, we scrambled and Wesley himself in the right spot and played that really strong and aggressive to finish the game for us,” Bosque coach Clifton Davidson said.

No. 3 MESA VISTA 58, No. 6 LEGACY ACADEMY 32: A key first-quarter run propelled the Trojans (25-4) to the substantial Class 2A victory over the Silverbacks (24-6) and a meeting in Friday’s semifinals against third-seeded Santa Rosa at 11:30 a.m. in the Pit.

Mesa Vista used strong shooting from the outside early to combat Legacy’s sagging defensive zone designed to take out star Trojans post Jordan Gallegos.

“This guy right here (Gallegos) in my humble opinion is the best player in the state of New Mexico,” Mesa Vista coach Thomas Vigil said. “And he had two points in the first half. When we got to the locker room, he wasn’t talking about his two points. The other guys had 12 because he draws so much attention that other guys get to eat off of that.”

Those other guys were Santiago Martinez and Andres Valdez, who each had 12 points and two 3-pointers at the half. They each finished with 16 points for the game and Martinez added eight assists.

And that early sharpshooting opened up the inside game late as Gallegos scored 10 second-half points to finish with 12.

Using their bigger size down low, the Silverbacks held a 6-5 lead midway through the first quarter.

The Trojans ran off on a 14-1 surge and the game was never really close thereafter.

“I think we got behind a little early because we didn’t take care of the ball very well and that led to easy baskets,” Legacy coach Brian Joyce said. “Whenever teams don’t have to earn baskets and you have to earn them, it makes it more challenging. Then you get behind and you have to play catch up the whole game and that’s what we were doing.”

While the Trojans shot 55% — 22-for-40 — from the field, Legacy managed a shooting percentage of 23 percent and went 4-for-24 on 3-pointers.

The Silverbacks got eight points David Lavery while Daniel Tavarez had seven rebounds.

In the other 2A games — all in Rio Rancho — Santa Rosa advanced by beating No. 7 Rehoboth Christian 44-41. Top-seeded Texico beat No. 9 Jal 61-37 and No. 4 Pecos ousted twelfth-seeded Mora 51-33.