By J.T. Keith
Artesia Daily Press Sports Editor
jtkeith@elritomedia.com

With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Artesia boys’ basketball coach Michael Mondragon raised his hands to the sky and pointed at someone in the stands.

With Bulldog fans packed into a crush of orange and black shirts at The Pit in Albuquerque, no one could know who Mondragon was pointing at.

When the clock hit zero, Mondragon’s No. 2 seeded Artesia Bulldogs had defeated the eighth-seeded, defending 4A state champion Highland Hornets 55-48 to win Artesia’s first state title in 28 years.

Mondragon finished a TV interview while wiping tears from his eyes. It became apparent the person he was waving at was his onetime Bulldogs’ basketball coach, Paul Kirkwood.

Former coaches Bubba Jennings and Kirkwood had planted seeds of the Artesia basketball program in a young Mondragon through summer basketball camps and the Bulldog Pups, teaching him the Bulldog Way as a youth.

Kirkwood was an assistant to Jennings, who coached at Artesia from 1990 to 1999 and led the Bulldogs to state championships in 1995 and 1997.

Kirkwood, 64, was head coach from 2000-2006, coaching Mondragon to prominence as an all-state guard.

Mondragon became Artesia’s head coach in 2014 and Kirkwood came back as an assistant to his former player in 2017 before retiring in 2023.

Mondragon, 41, remembers attending basketball camps organized by Jennings and Kirkwood during the summers.

“I am an Artesia boy through and through. I grew up here and played here,” Mondragon said after Saturday’s championship game.

Jennings, 62, is currently head basketball coach at Arlington Baptist University in Arlington, Texas. His 1995 team was honored Dec. 7, 2024, during halftime of the City of Champions Classic at Artesia High School’s Red Brick Gym.

After watching the Bulldogs play that night, Jennings told the Artesia Daily Press Saturday, “I had a chance to talk to the team. I told the team they had the talent and ability to make it to the state. Not only make it to state but win the state tournament.”

With the March 15 championship game and Mondragon’s interview in the books, Kirkwood managed to work his way down to the court to give Mondragon the hug of his life. The two men shared an embrace. Each man knew what the other was feeling in an unspoken moment. Each appreciated the other, knowing Kirkwood owned a share of the state championship Blue Trophy right along with Mondragon.

“He is like a son to me,” Kirkwood said. “I am so proud of him for winning the state title and bringing the Blue Trophy back home. But I am prouder of the husband and father he is and the man he has become. Same qualities he had when I coached him.”

J.T. Keith can be reached at jtkeith@elritomedia.com