Grady/San Jon takes loss to Quemado

GRADY - The Grady/San Jon boys basketball team lamented a top scorer's foul trouble, allowing nine 3-point shots and a brief but critical scoring drought in the third quarter during a 55-51 season-ending loss Saturday to Quemado in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament.

Most of all, the Bronchos lamented the absence of senior power forward Chisum Rush.

Rush, who averaged a team-leading 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game this season, suffered what initially was thought to have been a fractured left thumb during an overtime victory over Logan in the regular-season finale.

A doctor later diagnosed Rush with a full break in his thumb, sidelining him through at least the first round of the playoffs and perhaps longer. The injury also may delay his baseball season debut; he led all New Mexico high-school pitchers in strikeouts last year.

Quemado coach David Lackey had no doubt Rush being out of the game Saturday adversely affected the Bronchos, who finished 12-12.

"Chisum was out, and that makes them a different team," Lackey said. "We hated to see that; he's a great kid. We wish him a speedy recovery and a fantastic baseball season."

Bronchos coach Jonathan Langan said Rush tried to help his team during his recuperation.

"He practiced with us and tried to help us get ready for this game," Langan said. "But we know he wasn't going to be ready to play for us. We knew we would have to step up, get a lot of rebounds and second chances, and score."

Grady/San Jon did receive scoring from Dustin Bryant and Isaiah Mitchell, who each scored 15 points. However, Mitchell fell into foul trouble after scoring 12 points in the first quarter and fouled out early in the fourth.

Ninth-seeded Quemado (20-8), powered by Antonio Orozco scoring nine of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, advanced to play top-seed Melrose in the quarterfinals at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday at Bernalillo High School. Lackey will face off against his brother, Kevin, who coaches the Buffaloes.

The semifinal is set for 4:45 p.m. Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. The championship will be 6 p.m. Saturday at Dreamstyle Arena, aka The Pit, in Albuquerque.

Neither team led by more than five in the first half, with the Eagles sitting on a 31-29 lead at intermission.

After Mitchell's two free throws tied it early in the third, Quemado scored nine unanswered points - all on 3-point attempts - for a 40-31 lead it would not relinquish. The Eagles made nine treys during the game, compared to the Bronchos' two. That was another case where the Bronchos missed Rush: He was one of the team's best 3-point shooters.

Langan said Iricson Pino swishing a few 3-pointers early inspired his Eagles teammates to fire shots from behind the arc.

"He gave the energy to the others to keep shooting it, and they made a lot," he said. "It seems like all year long we've had a bunch of teams shoot their best against us.

When you run a zone (defense) like we do, that's what you want to give up, but you want to try to contest those and do the best you can. Sometimes it doesn't work out."

Lackey acknowledged his team was shooting treys more than he liked.

"We played really tight and really nervous," he said. "We shot a few more (3-pointers) than what we usually shoot. We were quick-triggered. We tried to temper that during the game."

Grady/San Jon narrowed the gap to 43-40 early in the fourth quarter. But Mitchell fouled out while trying to take a charge with 7:19 left, and Quemado went on a 6-0 run immediately after that.

The Bronchos went four straight possessions without a field goal in the last two minutes. Meanwhile, Orozco went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 12.6 seconds to keep the Eagles ahead.

"I think we did just enough (to win)," Lackey said. "We certainly made plenty of mistakes. They made plenty of mistakes. It was kind of anybody's game."

The loss spelled the end of the Grady/San Jon basketball. The San Jon school board unanimously voted in November to end the cooperative, citing inequitable treatment from Grady. Among the Bronchos' starters from San Jon were sophomore Bryant, junior Chad Becerra and sophomore Tobe Slater.

"I'm disappointed that it's ending," Langan said. "I loved coaching those guys; I loved how hard they played. I wish I got to coach them their senior years, but I'm going to wish them the best and coach hard against them next year. It's not going to be fun to go against those guys."