NMMI Sports Press
Lorenzo Peral had 16 points and Torty Kalu-Ulu pulled down nine boards as the Colts varsity basketball team defeated district-rival Dexter 44-32 in the first round of the District 4-3A tournament Tuesday night at Cahoon Armory.
It was the second time NMMI beat the Demons in four days, with Friday’s win securing third place in district standings.
The Demons scored the first five points of the night before sophomore guard Peral drained his first shot. Dexter answered with a 3-pointer, but Peral responded with the first of his three 3-pointers to end the first quarter in an 8-5 deficit.
Junior power forward Matthew McCargish opened the second period with a 3-pointer off the pass from Peral to tie the game, then the teammates switched roles as McCargish found Peral for the go-ahead 3. The Colts would maintain the lead throughout the rest of the contest.
After a 12-0 run by the Colts, Dexter scored their only points of the period with a late 3 from Brandon Calderon, who finished with a team-high 16 points, and NMMI took a 20-11 lead into the locker room.
The Demons caught fire early in the third as they closed the gap to three points, but Peral kept finding open shooters and assisted shots for McCargish and junior point guard Steven Griego to push the lead back to eight midway through the quarter.
Calderon briefly cut the NMMI lead back to single digits with a couple made free throws, but McCargish scored three the old-fashioned way after being fouled and Peral but a bow on the frame with his last field goal of the night to put the Colts up 34-21.
McCargish and senior forward Alan Fontes, who came off the bench and had an efficient game, helped push the lead to 15 early in the fourth, but Dexter would chip away and get it back to single digits one more time with less than three minutes left to play.
But with time on their side, the Colts played keep away and made a few trips to the charity stripe to put the game away.
McCargish had 12 points and seven rebounds, sophomore shooting guard Diego Martinez added five and Kalu-Ulu chipped in four points to go with his game-high nine rebounds.
NMMI head coach Connor Williamson said he’s enjoyed seeing a different high scorer practically every game.
“This is probably the seventh or eighth guy to lead us in scoring and I knew ‘Zo was capable of it all year long,” he said. “It’s great to see these guys hitting shots and doing the things we’ve worked on.”
Williamson said the development of Kalu-Ulu throughout the season has been rewarding and entertaining to watch.
“He’s just getting better and better,” he said. “Every game his coordination gets better, the timing gets better. It’s been really fun watching him grow.”
Tuesday marked the final Colt home game of the season and Williamson, a former high school and junior college cadet and basketball player at NMMI, said it was a joy to play in the remastered Cahoon Armory, especially when the cadets are in the stands.
“This is the best environment I’ve been a part of here at NMMI,” Williamson said. “The gym is great and when we have the Corps behind us, it makes a big difference and the players appreciate it. Of course our students have a lot of responsibilities so we can’t always fill the gym, but when we even get it half full, it’s definitely our sixth man.”
Williamson was pleased with the defensive performance, especially in the second quarter, and said that same effort will have to go on the road if the Colts want to keep playing past Thursday’s date in Tucumcari.
“Defense is something you can bring every single night, so it’s something we stress,” Williamson said. “We had our chances the last time in Tucumcari, but if we can bring the defensive effort and figure out a way to block out the noise, we can definitely win this road game.”
The Colts tipoff with the Rattlers in Tucumcari on Thursday at 6 p.m. The winner goes to Ruidoso to take on the No. 1 Warriors on Saturday.