Lady Wolverines return to top of Class 2A

ALBUQUERQUE — The tunnel from Bob King Court to the locker rooms at The Pit is a tough uphill climb, made even tougher after 32 minutes of basketball. But add a blue trophy, and the Texico Lady Wolverines wouldn’t miss that run for the world.

Texico’s three seniors got to make that run one more time, moments after the Lady Wolverines cruised in the second half for a 55-40 win over Navajo Pine in Friday’s Class 2A girls state championship at The Pit.

Sophomore Jaylyn Cooper scored a game-high 17, and senior Shannon Van Matre added 10 for Texico (26-5), which never trailed in the tournament and led by as many as 20 points on Friday in sealing its seventh state title in school history and third in four years.

“It was pretty devastating,” senior Victoria Richards said of not getting to make the tunnel run last year. “It’s the funnest run up and down, even though it’s the hardest one. It’s difficult not doing it, especially after you’ve got to do it twice before.”

The Lady Wolverines got back there with a workmanlike approach, winning their final 19 games following a loss to eventual Class 5A semifinalist Clovis in December.

“Everybody accepted their roles from 1 through 12,” Texico coach Keith Durham said. “I don’t think you can win a state championship without 12 people on the same train, and everyone was on the Wolverine train.”

Texico pushed out to a 13-2 lead early on, but traded baskets in the second stanza as third-seeded Navajo Pine attempted its comeback.

“Give Navajo Pine credit for taking things away from us in the first half,” Durham said. “The girls did a great job of responding and playing Wolverine basketball in the second half.”

The Lady Wolverines hit their first six shots of the third quarter, and Richards’ driving layup with three minutes left in the period pushed the lead to 43-23.

The Lady Warriors, led by Demetria Clichee’s 16 points, never got closer than 13 in the fourth.

“We gave it our best,” Navajo Pine coach Derrith Watchman-Moore said. “We just had a kind of tough time against their height.”

Cooper was a threat from everywhere, pulling down a team-high six rebounds and hitting a 3-pointer after the Lady Warriors (25-3) closed to 20-16 with just over a minute left in the first half.

Durham said the telling stat of the tournament was that three different Lady Wolverines were top scorers in the three games — Richards in the quarterfinals and Katlin Luscombe in the semifinals.

“Our philosophy is you have to stop all five of us,” Durham said. “We try to run stuff where you’ve got to stop us all.”

Van Matre, not normally among those scoring leaders, was aggressive throughout, with 2-of-5 shooting from the field and a 5-of-8 night from the line.

“She’s not afraid to take it in, make things happen,” Durham said. “She was kind of a sparkplug for our team.”

Texico will have big shoes to fill, with the departures of Richards and Katlin Luscombe — who have helped the school claim eight Class 2A titles, with track still on the horizon — and Van Matre.

But the philosophy, Durham said, won’t need replacing.

"Our play isn’t dependent on people scoring 20, 25 points," Durham said. “Our girls work their tails off on the defensive end so they can get chances on offense.”