Texico wins boys 2A title after fending off furious rally from Mesa Vista

Mar. 15—For the Texico Wolverines, this day was tied a moment long before the school won a state basketball championship on Saturday.

And also long before the school won a state football championship in 2023 — and then another one last fall.

"In our big gym that we have, we have state championship posters of all the teams that won it last," senior guard Alex Fuentes said.

Boys basketball's last championship was 2016. Football's, prior to 2023, was 2008.

"We looked at those pictures and we were like, we need to change those pictures," Fuentes said. 'We need to make them new."

Done.

The top-seeded Wolverines nearly blew all of a massive lead in the fourth quarter Saturday morning, but in the end, two free throws by Fuentes with 19.8 seconds to go proved crucial as Texico held off hard-charging No. 3 Mesa Vista 66-65 in the Class 2A title game at the Pit.

Texico (29-2) was on shaky legs down the stretch.

The Wolverines led 60-45 with 4:53 remaining. The Trojans (26-5) began feverishly trapping Texico, and their ball-hawking defense sparked a comeback that put Mesa Vista on the brink of stealing this one.

The lead was down to one at 62-61 with 77 seconds to go, plenty of time yet for Mesa Vista to complete the comeback.

Moments later, and fittingly, the ball was in Fuentes' hands at the free-throw line with 19.8 seconds left, Texico leading 64-63. And if you wanted one Wolverine with the ball in his hands, this was your guy, since he also rushed for over 2,100 yards last season for Texico in its championship campaign.

Fuentes stepped to the line, spread his arms wide, and calmly sank both shots for a 66-63 lead.

"When you see your leading captain, who's been playing for me for five years, throw his hands up and take in the crowd and then knock down two big free throws, it gives you a little confidence standing on the sideline that we're gonna take care of this game," coach Craig Cook said.

It wasn't quite over yet.

The Wolverines had a chance to ice the game at the line with 9.3 seconds left, but Jaheim Moses missed both shots. Texico had been 20-for-21 at the stripe before those misses.

Going the other way, it was Santiago Martinez with the ball. He went inside the arc and made a 12-foot baseline jumper with about 3 seconds to go, the last of his team-best 23 points. Texico was happy to let him shoot.

"I was looking for a foul call, to be honest," Martinez said.

But the Trojans were out of timeouts and they couldn't stop it after the basket. The clock ran out on them.

"If we came to the Pit and struck out looking, I'd be disappointed," Mesa Vista coach Thomas Vigil said. "We struck out swinging."

Texico Sophomore Jett Curtis had 22 points and was 12-for-13 at the line. "Our journey has been incredible," Curtis said. Fuentes finished with 18 points.

The Wolverines had a huge advantage in two areas: free throws, where they were 20-for-23 compared to 15-for-24 for Mesa Vista, and bench points, where Texico outscored the Trojans 18-0. Both teams had multiple starters dealing with foul trouble issues.

The free throws were important to note, since Cook said Texico has only shot it about 50% from the line all season. They were great at them Saturday, and now the school celebrates the rare double.

"They did it in football," Cook said, "they did it in basketball."

—

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