ALBUQUERQUE — At times, a contest between Portales and Navajo Pine on Thursday felt somewhat more akin to a chess match than a boys basketball game. With both teams playing tough match-up zone defenses, every shot was crucial. In the end, it was Navajo Pine (14-2) that crowned Portales and won the opening round game of the Hope Christian Invitational by a 49-44 score. The Warriors got a big 3-pointer from Timothee Chee with 1:46 left to break a 41-41 tie and sealed the win by making four straight free throws. Earlier in the game, it was Warriors’ senior Randy Nez who was draining the big 3s. In a low-scoring third period, Navajo Pine surged ahead by nine points largely thanks to three long-range bombs from Nez. “Sometimes he does (hesitate) and it seems like he gives up some open looks. I just tell him to stay confident and fire away,” Warriors coach Dee Poyer said. “They’re just a lot bigger than we are. In order for us to get better chances at rebounds, we figured we would just slow it down, body up, and find the right shots.” Nez’ treys helped Navajo Pine to a 9-0 run to end the third quarter and put the Warriors up 38-29. “It seemed like they didn’t even miss a shot all night,” said Portales senior Chris Mosier, who finished with four points. “Then, going back to the stat sheet, they missed a bunch. But so did we.” Pernell Begay had a game-high 15 points for Navajo Pine, which will move into the semifinals. Portales, which will play at 1:30 p.m. today in the consolation bracket, was paced by Ky Mitchell’s 11. Portales (5-7) did make a big comeback after Navajo Pine surged ahead in the second half. A free throw from Mosier to start the fourth quarter kicked off a 10-2 run to chip the deficit down to a single point. With 2:51 left in the game, Nick Bliss drove into the lane for a layup to tie the game at 41-41. A minute later, Chee connected on his only 3 of the night. “We should have run our offense more and, defensively, we should have stopped them. Down the stretch, we made some stupid decisions,” Mosier said. The game was a rematch of a semifinal contest in the same tournament last year — also won by Navajo Pine. “It’s real disheartening because every time we take one step forward, we take one step back,” Portales coach Mark Gallegos said. “We played real well the last two games. But we still have not learned that we’ve got to be more focused than the other team.”