On Thursday evening, New Mexico Military Institute booked a spot in Saturday’s district championship as they defeated Ruidoso High, 41-29 in the Cahoon Armory gym. With the win, the Colts improve to 16-11 on the season. With the setback, Ruidoso dips to a 16-12 overall mark.

Q1

To open the first quarter, Mihail Parada got things going early as he scored the first points of the game with a three off an assist by Diego Martinez. The Colt defense held firm as they only allowed four total points in the first eight minutes of action.

Adding four points for the Colts, Cole Seidenberger got on the board with a driving layup through contact before he knocked down a pair of free throws. At the end of the first quarter the Colts enjoyed a 9-4 lead.

Q2

Up by five the Colts used the first four minutes to protect their lead. With the help of Mason Fikany three for Ruidoso, they were able to trail 11-9 with 6:27 remaining in the half. However, from that point the Colts conduct a quick 5-0 run as the NMMI guards scored quickly to take an 18-9 lead.

Up nine, the Colts kept their foot on the gas. Every bucket scored by the Warriors was answered by NMMI. Late in the half, Lorenzo Peral drilled three to maintain some distance as the Colts took a 23-15 lead heading into halftime.

Q3

In the third, Ruidoso tried to stick around as they teams were evenly matched. NMMI just outscored Ruidoso 10-7 in the period. However, the Colts jumped out to their largest lead of the game after Xavier Johnson scored to put the NMMI ahead 33-22 to end the quarter.

Q4

In the final period the Colts flexed their muscles. The home team was able to create a 16-point advantage after Torty Kaul-ulu finished a fast break. The Warriors tried to mount a comeback but the Colts weren’t having any of it as they passed the ball around to run out the clock.

In the final minutes Parada was able to score a bucket to help NMMI advance to the district tournament championship with the 41-29 win over the Warriors.

Head Coach Connor Williamson on the win, “our game plan was the pressure hard and I think we did that well enough to win tonight,” Williamson said. “It was nice to protect the lead and continue to build on it throughout the night.” With one game left to determine state tournament seeding, “I want to see the most complete game we’ve played and the best version of ourselves on Saturday,” Williamson said.

Both Mihail Parada and Lorenzo Peral tallied 11 points and four rebounds to lead the way for the Colts. Xavier Johnson finished with five rebounds. Diego Martinez tallied a game-high five assists while also scoring five points in the process.  

NMMI will be back in action on Saturday, March 1 as they take on Tularosa High in Tularosa, NM at 6:00 p.m. MST for the district championship.