No. 1 Magdalena wins foul-fest
Steers have all but clinched district title
The Magdalena Steers spotted Menaul the first 11 points Thursday night.
But Class 2A’s No. 1-ranked team had won comfortably by the time they hit the bus for the ride home, essentially clinching the District 2-2A regular-season title with a grinding, frequently ugly 68-60 road win over the fourth-ranked Panthers.
And as Magdalena coach Jory Mirabal reflected on a game that was foul-plagued in the extreme — there were a combined 56 of them, which led to seven player disqualifications and 66 free throws — he was thinking back to the way his veteran team (22-1 overall, 7-0 in district) handled that very quick punch in the mouth delivered to them by Menaul to start the game.
“We were at a point where they can fold, or keep going,” Mirabal said. “And we had some senior leadership step up.”
Central to this was senior point guard Jorrell Mirabal — one of three brothers playing for their dad — who had 11 first-quarter points and kept the Steers from going completely off the rails.
“We held our cool,” Jorrell Mirabal said after a 20-point effort. “We’re a tight-knit group, and we’ve been playing together forever. None of us was worried.”
There were some periodic bursts of entertaining basketball between the two rivals Thursday, but those were very few and far between.
The Steers closed to 20-15 by the end of the first quarter, and although they were down eight twice in the second quarter, Magdalena went on a 10-2 run to close the first half, which ended in a 32-all tie.
Late in the third quarter, a 3-pointer from Jaxson Mirabal, and then a sweet 2-on-1 finish by brother Jorrell, put the Steers in front 49-44. They led by six at the end of the quarter, and that lead was never threatened in the fourth quarter as one Menaul player after another picked up their fifth foul.
It was clearly a frustrating loss for Menaul coach Gary Boatman, who could only watch as five of his players fouled out. Magdalena was in the double bonus in the second half before the third quarter was even over.
“It did get away from us right there,” Boatman said.
For Menaul (20-4, 6-2), its chances of winning the 2-2A regular season are over, although the Panthers hope to face the Steers again in the upcoming 2-2A tournament.
Senior forward Michael Ou led the Panthers with 21 points.
WEST MESA 67, ALBUQUERQUE HIGH 56: At Bulldog City, Jose Vigil had a team-best 25 points for the Mustangs, who connected on 11 3-pointers as they avenged a home overtime loss to AHS from last month.
Four West Mesa players — Vigil, Camren Schroer, Brandon Bouldin and Eloy Medina — hit multiple 3s in the District 4-6A win for West Mesa (15-7, 4-4).
AHS (14-8, 5-3) guard Randy Castillo led all scorers with 27 points.
VALLEY 72, RIO GRANDE 63: At Valley, Segun Oyeku had a team-best 22 points for the Vikings (13-8, 5-2 in 3-6A), who pulled away from Rio Grande in the fourth quarter.
Anthony Chavez contributed 21 points in the win for Valley.
ATRISCO HERITAGE 68, HIGHLAND 57: The third-ranked Jaguars (20-2, 8-0 in 4-6A) had a tough time with the Hornets (3-17, 1-7) for a half and then some, but a strong third quarter keyed the win for AHA.
Senior forward Jordan Arroyo had 17 points to lead Atrisco Heritage.
Girls
CIBOLA 59, CLEVELAND 43: At Cleveland, senior guard Amaya Brown had a game-high 22 points as the second-ranked Cougars (21-1, 6-0) remained perfect in District 1-6A.
Three other Cougars also reached double figures.