On Saturday evening, New Mexico Military Institute and Tularosa High battled it out to decide the Class 3A District 4 tournament championship. With a 53-37 loss, the Colts moved to 16-12 on the year while Tularosa improved to a 21-6 mark. 

Q1

In the opening period, both sides traded buckets as neither team was able to take control of the game. Anytime the Colts scored, Tularosa responded with a bucket of their own. In the quarter Sawyer Hull was able to knock down a three – his only points of the night.

For the Wildcats, Estevan Barraza tallied four early points to help Tularosa take an 11-9 lead after the first quarter.

Q2

Down two points, the Colts struggled offensively in the second quarter. NMMI was held to just eight points in the quarter, Lorenzo Peral added a three while Carper Lackey and Diego Martinez each scored a layup.

The Wildcats used the second quarter to outscore the Colts 15-8 as Fabian Pacheco scored five quick points for Tularosa in the period. Unable to stop the Wildcats, the Colts trailed 26-27 heading into halftime.

Q3

Coming out of the half, the Colts found some momentum with the help of an eight-point performance by Mihail Parada. As a team, NMMI tallied 11 points – their highest scoring quarter of the evening.

Defensively, NMMI had no answers for Tularosa. With an all-around offensive effort, five different players scored for the Wildcats. Barraza tallied a quarter-high five points to lead the way for the home team. After the third, the Wildcats enjoyed a 43-28 lead.

Q4 

Down by 15, NMMI battled the final eight minutes to get back into the game. However, the Wildcats held the Colts to just nine points in the final eight minutes of action. Trying to cut the deficit, Lackey drilled a deep three but it wasn’t enough.

Tularosa outscored the Colts, 10-9, in the final period to secure their sixth consecutive district championship with a 53-37 win.

Colt Head Coach Connor Williamson on the loss, “for us offensively they were giving us a lot of pressure, cutting off a lot of actions we’re used to getting into our spots. They were really aggressive with deflections, we have to be better protecting the ball,” Williamson said. With a few days off, “it’s nice to have some time to practice and work on some things that we need to improve on,” Williamson said.

The Colts will return to action next Saturday, March 8, in the first round of the state playoffs. With brackets being released tomorrow evening, the time, location and opponent are still to be determined.