Tigers lose semifinals to Hope Christian by slim margin

Taos' opponents showed poise in the final three minutes. After Taos' Daemon Ely missed two free throws that would have cut it to a single point, the Huskies ran their keep-away offense to perfection. 

Noah Perry found ways to get separation, with or without screens. Then they'd move the ball around to start another set of offensive actions until the Tigers had to foul. 

The Tigers' championship bid slowly came to an end with each pair of Hope Christian free throws.

At the 1:04 mark, coach Hernando “Nando” Chavez called a quick timeout down 10, at which point he still held out hope of another comeback. 

“Silly as it sounds, I'm still thinking in the back of my head, ‘Hey, we can find a way’, anything can happen, we’re one or two steals away and a couple of three-pointers, maybe an and-one, and you're right back in this game," he said. "That changes things, puts a little more pressure on them when they go to the free throw line. Now, they're not going to the free throw line with an eight-point lead anymore; they’re going with a four-point lead.”

Instead, the Huskies — who had missed most of their free throws in the first three quarters — started to connect on 90 percent of them in the fourth quarter.

It was more toward the 30-second mark when hope for Taos started to run out and another timeout was called to focus, not on the imminent loss but, on what the team accomplished this season.

“We just go into the huddle at that point. We remind them what they've accomplished this season, how proud you are of them because I am extremely proud of them," he said. "Losing eight seniors last year and for these guys to band together and come together the way they did and to make the state semifinals, make the final-four, these guys, just can't say enough about their heart and their character."

After hanging in with the Huskies for most of the game, Hope Christian pulled away in the final minutes to win it 62-50 to advance to the championship round, where they lost to Albuquerque Academy, 39-70.

Daemon Ely led all scorers with 24 points, while Perry led the way for the Huskies with 23 points.  

Huskies’ coach Jim Murphy said he will be relieved to have not scheme against Ely anymore. 

“We’re glad he’s graduating. He's a great player. They have a great team and Taos did a great job this year. He's definitely a superstar out there,” Murphy said.

Quarterfinals recap

Taos Municipal Schools dismissed early the day of the semifinals matchup to support the Taos High School Boys Basketball team after it pulled off an upset win against the Highland Hornets Wednesday night (March 8) in The Pit. 

Making their way down to Albuquerque in the Taos Tiger Express school bus, the Tigers battled against the Highland Hornets for the quarterfinals of the Nusenda Credit Union Basketball State Championships Class 4A.

Coach Hernando “Nando” Chavez’ prediction before the quarterfinal was a simple one.

“My prediction is that you're gonna see a group of guys that are gonna come out and play with all the heart, all the character, as hard as they possibly can. And max effort for 32 minutes. That's my prediction,” he said.

The Tigers gave him that, and then some: Taos pulled off the upset as the seventh-seed, 55-54, over Highlands with one of the biggest shots of Mateo Salazar’s career and in Taos Tiger basketball history.

Taos’ path toward an upset came close to veering off course in the fourth quarter, however, when the Tigers committed costly turnovers that the Hornets capitalized on each time with a score.

After being down 49-39 halfway through the fourth quarter, Taos kept it within reach into the final minute. The Hornets tried to burn some clock with ball movement. After a missed Highland field goal, the Tigers cut the lead to 4 with a Mateo Salazar layup.

With a minute left in the game, Taos resorted to a full court press.

Highland, the team with the championship pedigree, made a few blunders. Instead of driving to the rim on a 2-to-2 fastbreak, Highland pulled it back out, giving Salazar a chance to poke the ball away from Stanford, forcing a turnover.

On the next Hornets’ possession, Jesus Dominguez was blocked by Daemon Ely. In transition, down by 2 and possession of the ball, Salazar knocked down the clutch go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing.

Twenty-four seconds were still left on the clock. Plenty of basketball left.

Jesus Licon, a 90-percent free throw shooter, missed a one-and-one situation, giving Taos possession with a small lead. For the season, Licon made 107 out of 119 free throw attempts.

Ely returned the favor with a missed free throw in the double bonus, giving the Hornets a chance to tie.

A reverse layup missed by Licon to tie sealed the deal for the Tigers, sending them into the semifinals.

Ely was again the star for Taos, with 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 32 minutes for Taos. For the Hornets, Sergio Acosta was their top player, with 21 points on 8-10 shooting and a couple of steals in 25 minutes for Highland.