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RIO RANCHO — Whatever works for ya, boys.
The Robertson boys basketball team is using its No. 10 seed as motivation in the Class 3A state tournament. The Cardinals’ desire to prove to the world that they deserved something better worked wonders in the opening round with a win on the road over No. 7 East Mountain, then again Wednesday against No. 2 Tularosa in the Rio Rancho Events Center.
Behind 24 points from guard Michael Marr and a double-double from Nathan Gonzales, the Cardinals (20-12) rolled to a 64-53 win over Tularosa to reach Friday morning’s semifinals in The Pit against No. 6 Bosque.
“We’ve beaten some good teams, and we’ve just kept stressing that, you know what, we can be the best team,” Marr said. “We’re really young, but we’ve been here before. A lot of us have experience. We’re a 10 seed for a reason. They were a 2 seed for a reason, too. We just had to go out and play.”
The Cardinals trailed for all of 48 seconds in Wednesday’s game, spotting the Wildcats (25-4) an early 2-0 lead before scoring 10 straight points. They led by double digits by the end of the first quarter and had Tularosa cut it to single digits just three times over the final three quarters.
As usual, defense was the name of the game for Robertson. Tularosa had 25 turnovers and was held to 35% shooting as the frenetic pace set by the Cardinals completely took the Wildcats out of it.
That was played out in full force in the second quarter when Marr scored on consecutive layups just 14 seconds apart after the Cards’ defense forced turnovers using the press. Marr was hitting from everywhere, including a 30-foot 3-pointer in the first half, a number of contested layups in traffic and a 3 from the top of the key with three minutes left in the third quarter to open a 40-21 lead.
Marr tapped his chest and bounced across midcourt after hitting the shot.
Robertson coach Adam Bustos noticed that Tularosa had a hard time handling the press when studying game film of the Wildcats’ overtime win over West Las Vegas in the opening round. Having lost to Tularosa at home during the regular season, Bustos had a feeling his team could turn it around.
“I mean, it’s hard to judge what kind of team we were from that first time we played them, but I did see some things that I felt we could do this time,” Bustos said. “We went through a lot, and to Tularosa’s coach’s credit, they tried hard to schedule more Northern teams this year. They’re putting themselves out there because those kind of games only make you tougher.”
The Wildcats played seven games against the North-based District 2-3A, winning five of them.
Tularosa had three players score 11 points apiece, but it came with a price. Those three — Eluciano Gonzales, Kameron Blazer and Jacoby Apachito — combined for 12 turnovers and were a combined 11-for-34 shooting from the field.
The Wildcats had few answers for Robertson’s Gonzales. The 6-foot-6 junior starts in the low post and spends most of his time near the basket, but he’s as versatile as anyone on the floor. He dominated the glass, pulling down 19 rebounds with 19 points and blocking three shots. The majority of his missed shots were jumpers from 10 to 20 feet.
“These guys are starting to understand who they are, and I’m starting to understand what kind of team we can be,” Bustos said. “We lost six guys from our team last year, and it has taken a while to figure this team out. I told them that if we make the tournament, trust in each other and stay together, we should be able to make a run. It didn’t matter where they seeded us. We just needed to get in.”
Marcus Montoya and Isaiah Rivera-Maestas each had six points for Robertson, which shot better than 50% from inside the 3-point arc (23 for 44) thanks to a defense that created plenty of transition opportunities after posting 12 steals and forcing so many Tularosa turnovers.
Continue reading...
The Robertson boys basketball team is using its No. 10 seed as motivation in the Class 3A state tournament. The Cardinals’ desire to prove to the world that they deserved something better worked wonders in the opening round with a win on the road over No. 7 East Mountain, then again Wednesday against No. 2 Tularosa in the Rio Rancho Events Center.
Behind 24 points from guard Michael Marr and a double-double from Nathan Gonzales, the Cardinals (20-12) rolled to a 64-53 win over Tularosa to reach Friday morning’s semifinals in The Pit against No. 6 Bosque.
“We’ve beaten some good teams, and we’ve just kept stressing that, you know what, we can be the best team,” Marr said. “We’re really young, but we’ve been here before. A lot of us have experience. We’re a 10 seed for a reason. They were a 2 seed for a reason, too. We just had to go out and play.”
The Cardinals trailed for all of 48 seconds in Wednesday’s game, spotting the Wildcats (25-4) an early 2-0 lead before scoring 10 straight points. They led by double digits by the end of the first quarter and had Tularosa cut it to single digits just three times over the final three quarters.
As usual, defense was the name of the game for Robertson. Tularosa had 25 turnovers and was held to 35% shooting as the frenetic pace set by the Cardinals completely took the Wildcats out of it.
That was played out in full force in the second quarter when Marr scored on consecutive layups just 14 seconds apart after the Cards’ defense forced turnovers using the press. Marr was hitting from everywhere, including a 30-foot 3-pointer in the first half, a number of contested layups in traffic and a 3 from the top of the key with three minutes left in the third quarter to open a 40-21 lead.
Marr tapped his chest and bounced across midcourt after hitting the shot.
Robertson coach Adam Bustos noticed that Tularosa had a hard time handling the press when studying game film of the Wildcats’ overtime win over West Las Vegas in the opening round. Having lost to Tularosa at home during the regular season, Bustos had a feeling his team could turn it around.
“I mean, it’s hard to judge what kind of team we were from that first time we played them, but I did see some things that I felt we could do this time,” Bustos said. “We went through a lot, and to Tularosa’s coach’s credit, they tried hard to schedule more Northern teams this year. They’re putting themselves out there because those kind of games only make you tougher.”
The Wildcats played seven games against the North-based District 2-3A, winning five of them.
Tularosa had three players score 11 points apiece, but it came with a price. Those three — Eluciano Gonzales, Kameron Blazer and Jacoby Apachito — combined for 12 turnovers and were a combined 11-for-34 shooting from the field.
The Wildcats had few answers for Robertson’s Gonzales. The 6-foot-6 junior starts in the low post and spends most of his time near the basket, but he’s as versatile as anyone on the floor. He dominated the glass, pulling down 19 rebounds with 19 points and blocking three shots. The majority of his missed shots were jumpers from 10 to 20 feet.
“These guys are starting to understand who they are, and I’m starting to understand what kind of team we can be,” Bustos said. “We lost six guys from our team last year, and it has taken a while to figure this team out. I told them that if we make the tournament, trust in each other and stay together, we should be able to make a run. It didn’t matter where they seeded us. We just needed to get in.”
Marcus Montoya and Isaiah Rivera-Maestas each had six points for Robertson, which shot better than 50% from inside the 3-point arc (23 for 44) thanks to a defense that created plenty of transition opportunities after posting 12 steals and forcing so many Tularosa turnovers.
Continue reading...
