Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

The Hobbs Eagles captured the first-place trophy at the City of Champions Classic, outmuscling the host Artesia Bulldogs in the second half to score an 81-65 victory in the Dec. 7 championship game.

The game had a throwback feeling to it as the Bulldogs honored members of Artesia’s 1995 state championship basketball team during a halftime ceremony at the Red Brick Gym.

That 1995 championship was the first basketball state title in the school’s history. The Bulldogs won another in 1997.

Braylon Vega scored 18 points for Artesia in Saturday’s loss to Hobbs. Charlie Campbell scored 13 points for the Bulldogs, Trent Egeland had 12 and Clay Kincaid added 10.

Artesia head coach Michael Mondragon said the Eagles wore out Artesia in the second half as some of the Bulldogs shifted gears from football to basketball. Campbell, Egeland and Kincaid all played in Artesia’s 41-22 loss to Roswell in the 5A state championship football game Nov. 30.

“When your legs go your mind kind of goes, too,” Mondragon said. “That little fatigue causes some bad decisions; turnovers hurt us in the second half.”

The Eagles (5-1) outscored the Bulldogs 52-34 in the second half after trailing by two, 31-29, at the intermission.

“We fought our tails off, we shot the ball really well, we handled some runs,” Mondragon said. “Hobbs was just a little too much.”

Artesia defeated Los Lunas 46-29 on Dec. 6 to advance to the championship game against Hobbs after opening the tournament Dec. 5 with a 65-29 win over Kirtland Central.

Mondragon admired the fight of his junior-dominant team.

“They’re going to step on the court and give us everything they’ve got,” he said. “We’ve just got to fix the little things here and there and get our legs under us. That’s the big thing.”

Despite the loss, Mondragon said 2-1 Artesia has a competitive spirit that should help as the season moves on.

“We’ve got a bunch of dudes and a bunch of dogs that want to go out and fight and if they keep doing that and we bring that same mentality every single day in practice and carry it into the game, we’re going to be a heck of a team at district time,” he said.

Vega and Campbell were named to the all-tournament team and Mondragon said both help drive the offense in the guard spots.

But a successful season will require a team effort, the coach said.

“Right now, it’s hard to say one guy (who is the leader),” he said. “You’ve got so many guys that can step up and play hard for us. As long as they do that, we’re going to do great things.”

The Bulldogs are back in action at 7 p.m. Friday against Valencia High School in Los Lunas.

Artesia Lady Bulldogs finish sixth

Ashton Craft was Artesia’s leading scorer with 11 points in a 57-37 loss to Roswell High School during the fifth-place game of the girls side of the City of Champions Classic Saturday.

Deming won the title game over Carlsbad.

Thursday through Saturday Artesia participates in a tournament at Albuquerque’s Academy High School.

More tournament photos can be found on B2.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or email at msmith@currentargus.com.