Colt passion gets them past East Mountain

Karen Boehler
NMMI Sports Press

The ball was going every which way but in the net; bodies were flying — and rolling — all over the court; and the Colts and Timberwolves didn’t give an inch.
But at the end of the District 4-4A match, NMMI (7-11, 2-2) had battled its way to a 45-40 win in what coach Dan Smith called a “key” victory.
“We had to have this win tonight in an effort to keep up with the district standings,” he said. “Hopefully our opportunity to go to the state tournament.”
Early on, nothing would go in the net. The first points of the game didn’t come until 3:38 in the first quarter when Wolf Aidan Aragon hit from the field. NMMI’s only two points came on free throws: the first at 2:36 by Fausto Baranzini and the second with 32 seconds remaining on a shot by Dillon Reynolds.
The score after one was a paltry 7-2 East Mountain.

A few more shots fell in the second — the Colts’ first field goal came with 6:25 left in the half — but it was still only 18-14 Timberwolves heading into the locker room.
“You know, sometimes you just have days when it’s hard to score the basketball,” Smith said. “We had great looks. The ball just wouldn’t go in the basket initially, and really for both teams I think.”
East Mountain came out in the third and stretched the lead to seven, but NMMI never stopped fighting, and with 4:24 left in the stanzaJuan Reyna hit a huge 3-pointer that cut the Wolf lead to two, 24-22. Fifty seconds later, Baranzini tied the game at 24-all, then the lead traded hands with the Timberwolves leading 29-29 after three.

After three more lead changes, Peter DeGroot hit only the second NMMI trey of the day, but it was huge, putting the Colts up 35-31 and giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
But that lead didn’t mean it was easy.
East Mountain cut the NMMI lead to one three more times, the last with :53 seconds remaining. But Daniel Sanchez nailed a field goal to stretch the edge to three, then, with just six seconds left, Carlos Xibile was 2-for-2 from the charity stripe, giving the Colts a big buffer.
And while they weren’t needed, those points might have come in handy as Wolf Darryl Pennington threw the ball up with less than a second left in the game. The almost half-court shot sailed to the hoop, rolled around — and around and around — then finally popped out, leaving the NMMI edge at five.

So, what was the difference in the second half, coach?
“We knew if we played our game, and started putting the ball in the basket a little bit, we would be just fine,” he said. “We knew it was just a matter of time.”
While Xibile led the NMMI scoring with 13 points, and Baranzini picked up 14 rebounds, neither was the player drawing Smith’s attention. Until he fouled out late in the fourth, Smith was cheering on Reyna and urging his bench to clap for the sophomore.
“He was just everywhere tonight,” Smith said. “Reyna was all over the floor, just creating turnovers and havoc for us. That’s why we were cheering him on.”
East Mountain’s Isiah Padilla led all scorers with 14 points, and Kyle Roark had 13.
The Colts will close out the regular home season Friday with a match against highly-ranked Portales before traveling to Ruidoso for the district finale.
Smith knows it won’t be easy, but after two thrilling home games in a row, he’s not counting his team out of anything.
“Portales is a great team, but I like the energy and the tenacity we’re playing with. I think we have a chance.”

Junior Varsity
NMMI 37, East Mountain 23

The Colt junior varsity started the day with an easy 37-23 victory over East Mountain.
The game was fairly close early: NMMI led 10-7 after one and 18-15 at the half. But the Colt defense held the Timberwolves to four points in each of the final two quarters, outscoring them 11-4 in the third to lead 29-19.
Emilio Maldonado led the way for NMMI with 10 points.