NMMI Sports Press
In the final home game of the season the Colts shot the lights out in the first half on their way to dispatching the visiting Tucumcari Rattlers 62-37 on Thursday night at Cahoon Armory in the District 4-3A tournament semifinal.
“Really good game overall, offense was efficient and just really unselfish ball movement,” said NMMI head coach Connor Williamson. “We have a lot of guys that can score and Steven (Griego) took good care of the ball and probably had a season high for points.”
The Colts shot 57 percent from the field in the first half and a whopping 67 percent from behind the arc, going 6-for-9 from deep with each make coming from a different NMMI player.
After building a 32-17 lead after two quarters of play, the Colts didn’t back off much, shooting 44 percent from the field and widening the gap on their way to victory.
Junior Lorenzo Peral led the Institute with 15 points, going 5-of-11 from the field and 3-for-4 at the free-throw line. The guard from Sonora, Mexico racked up most of his five assists in the first half and then helped keep the game out of reach with seven fourth-quarter points.
Junior forward Cole Seidenberger recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, senior point guard Steven Griego added nine points going 4-for-6 from the field, and sophomore guard/forward Carper Lackey had eight points and went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
The Colts turned up the defensive intensity in the second half with five of their eight total takeaways while taking care of the ball on the offensive end with four turnovers, compared to eight in the first half.
The win propels NMMI to the District 4-3A tournament championship in Ruidoso Saturday. The Colts were the only district team to defeat the Warriors this season, stealing one on the road 51-46 back on Feb. 16. Ruidoso downed NMMI 47-45 on Feb. 6 at Cahoon.
“It’ll be a battle for sure. The teams should be evenly matched and it’s going to come down to who makes less mistakes,” Williamson said. “If we can take what we did tonight on the road, that can definitely be us.”