Texico girls repeat in 2A

ALBUQUERQUE — Texico coach Keith Durham sat alone in an old basketball office at The Pit. It wasn’t his office, but it could have been, as he was alone with a Bible.

Then his phone rang. It was former assistant Clay Stout, telling him, “47 seconds left, you’re up nine. Congratulations, coach.”

Without Durham on the court, the Texico Lady Wolverines dominated on defense, defeating top-seeded Navajo Prep 55-45 Friday afternoon at The Pit for their second consecutive Class 2A state title.

Brooke Bailey scored 16 points to lead Texico, which finished 28-2 and hasn’t lost to a 2A opponent in two years.

“Feels good,” senior guard Bryn Mayfield said. “No better way to go out.”

The Lady Wolverines, whose losses were to Class 5A Cibola and 3A Portales, didn’t let an opponent reach 50 points all season by taking things one defensive series at a time.

“Every possession, we stop them; that’s our goal,” said Durham, who was ejected after picking up two technical fouls in Texico’s semifinal win over Mora and had to sit out the title game under New Mexico Activities Association rules.

“I feel like our program’s built on defense and rebounding. It’s been successful for me in the past, as a head coach or an assistant, wherever I’ve been.”

It worked even when he wasn’t there, as assistant coach Ryan Autrey took over a Lady Wolverine squad that forced 20 turnovers and held the Lady Hawks to 28-percent shooting.

“You could have put anybody on the bench,” said Autrey, a 2001 Texico graduate. “It was all coach Durham’s hard work. I just got to step in at the end.”

What Autrey stepped into was Texico’s biggest challenge from a 2A opponent.

The Lady Hawks (22-7) rallied from an early 17-10 deficit for a 30-25 lead early in the third, but eventually faded against the defending champions as they could neither convert offensively nor get Texico point guard Faith Martin to turn the ball over.

Martin notched 10 points and six assists, but made her biggest contribution with her ballhandling, which forced Navajo Prep to abandon its aggressive pressure defense.

“She did a good job just breaking our press every time,” Lady Hawks coach Rainy Crisp said. “Our goal was just to stay in front of her and slow her down. She is a good player and she handled the pressure very well.”

With two minutes left and the Lady Hawks within two, Martin broke Navajo Prep's press and found sophomore Katlin Luscombe for a layup and a 45-41 lead.

“Navajo Prep’s really good at putting pressure on you,” Martin said, “but it’s good knowing I have teammates I can get the ball to.”

From there, the Texico defense took over, holding the Lady Hawks to 1-of-7 shooting the rest of the way and leaving the top seed simultaneously disappointed and impressed.

“Definitely, in 2A, that’s the best we’ve seen all season,” Crisp said. “They don’t foul much, they deny our guards, they pressure our guards.”

Nicole Crisp led the Lady Hawks with 16 points, but was held to 3-of-13 from the field.

Texico is no stranger to repeats, having won three of the school’s six championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002 behind Elizabeth Richards and Jennifer Roberts.

“With Elizabeth and them, I thought they were a WNBA team,” Bailey said. “I thought they were awesome. I dreamed that I could do the same.”

Class 2A Championship
At The Pit
Texico 55, Navajo Prep 45
Texico (28-2) — Brooke Bailey 7-11 2-2 16, Katlin Luscombe 5-11 4-7 14, Faith Martin 1-7 8-10 10, Victoria Richards 2-3 2-2 6, Bryn Mayfield 0-4 5-10 5, Amanda Bass 1-3 0-0 3, Holly Harrison 0-0 1-2 1, Jaryse Harris 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 16-39 22-34 55.
Navajo Prep (22-7) — Nicole Crisp 3-13 8-13 16, Marqia Begay 3-8 0-0 8, Monique IronShell 3-10 2-2 8, Nicole Yazzie 2-4 2-2 6, Tenisha Royston 2-8 0-0 5, Kendrea Begaye 0-1 2-2 2, Bridgette Becenti 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-46 14-19 45.
Texico 11 14 15 15 — 55
Navajo Prep 8 19 7 11 — 45
3-pointers – Texico 1-5 (Bass 1-3, Richards 0-1, Mayfield 0-1), Navajo Prep 5-11 (Crisp 2-2, M. Begaye 2-4, Royston 1-4, Becenti 0-1). Rebounds – Texico 37 (Luscombe 7), Navajo Prep 36 (Crisp 7). Total fouls – Texico 18, Navajo Prep 22. Fouled out -- IronShell.