Jason Farmer and Peter Stein

Hobbs News-Sun

After dropping its opening game in the Hobbs Holiday Tournament last season and having to play on the consolation side of the bracket, things are looking better for the Artesia boys’ basketball team as the Bulldogs beat Albuquerque Eldorado 61-48 Dec. 26 in Tasker Arena. The win put the Bulldogs on the championship side of the bracket.

While the Bulldogs did not lead wire-to-wire, they never trailed.

“It is exciting,” Artesia coach Michael Mondragon said. “Right after Christmas, everybody is a little rusty, especially the day after Christmas, but I love the defensive side. We played really hard on the defensive end.”

Artesia opened the game with a 13-2 run before settling for a 15-8 lead after the first eight minutes.

Both teams scored 12 points in the second quarter, but Eldorado never got closer than four points, 21-17, during that time. At the break, Artesia led 27-20.

Eldorado outscored Artesia 16-14 in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs maintained their lead, despite letting the Golden Eagles get within three points, 39-36.

Leading 41-36 to start the final eight minutes, Eldorado hit a jumper and a trey to knot the game at 41-all with 7:01 to play. The Bulldogs struck back quick though, getting a jumper from Charlie Campbell and a layup from Trent Egeland, putting Artesia back in front 45-41.

Eldorado got a layup from Malachi Green, cutting Artesia’s lead to two points, 45-43, but it never got any closer. Artesia responded with a 14-0 run to take control of the game. By the time the Golden Eagles scored again, getting a free throw from green, the Bulldogs led 59-44.

“It all starts with our defense,” Mondragon said. “We forced them to miss some tough shots and got some offensive rebounds, long shots and long rebounds, got some easy looks, executed, took care of the ball, and made some free throws. But, it all goes back to defensive rebounding. We know we are long, we are athletic and if we can keep them to tough shots, our defense generates our offense.”

Artesia outscored Eldorado 20-12 over the final eight minutes of play.

Campbell led the Bulldogs in scoring, finishing with 19 points before fouling out with 2:16 left in the fourth. Former Hobbs Eagle Braylon Vega contributed 15 points while Clay Kincaid had 10. Campbell and Kincaid each had seven rebounds for the Bulldogs.

“We know we have different guys who can fill it up at different times,” the Artesia coach said. “We have guards, we have posts, and we just have to get our legs under us. If we don’t foul and we keep guys in front, we are a really hard team to beat.”

Green was the top scorer for Eldorado, finishing with 19 points. Emiliano Morrison chipped in 11 points to go with nine rebounds.

Rio Rancho Cleveland 58 Artesia 55

With a championship-game berth at stake and two teams trading lead for lead, one team was going to have to play just a bit better down the stretch to prevail.

The Cleveland boys basketball team did that against Artesia in the Dec. 27 semifinal of the Hobbs Holiday Tournament, eking out a 58-55 victory to advance.

Cleveland erased a 27-20 first-half deficit, only to wind up trailing 50-42 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Storm’s deficit was 52-45 later in the fourth before they closed with a whoosh. A trey and a reverse layup from Remy Albrecht had Cleveland quickly within 52-50. A short left-baseline one-hander by Artesia’s Clay Kincaid made it a 54-50 game, but a rightside three from Brycen Bowe brought the Storm within one, just inside the four-minute mark, and a pair of Albrecht free throws put them ahead 55-54 with 2:37 to play in the fourth.

When Artesia’s Braylon Vega made one of two foul shots, the game was tied at 55. But with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter, Bowe scored inside to give the Storm a 57-55 edge.

Back on the other end, Vega attempted what was briefly a wide-open three-point attempt from the left corner, but Albrecht raced down the baseline and blocked the shot. As a result the ball was out of bounds off Cleveland, but after Artesia in-bounded, Psalmon Kegler came up with a steal.

Artesia had to foul three times to put the Storm into the bonus and send them to the line. And once at the stripe, Albrecht missed the first but made the second of his two free-throw attempts, giving Cleveland a 58-55 lead with 9.5 seconds remaining.

On the Bulldogs’ last-chance possession, Charlie Campbell missed a trey attempt. Vega tried to chase down the resulting loose ball, but Albrecht collected it to end the game.

Albrecht finished with a game-high 26 points, and was the only Cleveland player to reach double-digit scoring. Tyrell Lopez was the Storm’s next-highest scorer with nine points.

Campbell led Artesia with 16 points, followed by Kincaid with 10, and Vega and Trent Egeland with nine points each.

Bulldogs 54 Farmington 40

The Artesia boys basketball team has been battling back from football season for over a month now.

The Bulldogs’ football was a success, a state finalist, that was the problem.

Getting football guys assimilated into basketball mode, has taken a while but they’re getting there. And playing back to third place in the Hobbs Holiday Tournament Dec. 28 with a win over defending tournament champ Farmington was several sneaker strides toward where the Bulldogs want to be be as they dive forward into their season.

Artesia had to rally from a 31-26 third-quarter deficit, a 36-31 hole early in the fourth. The Bulldogs did it, maybe a sign that it’s all coming together after a heartbreaking semifinal loss to Cleveland.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” Artesia head coach Michael Mondragon said. “We really let one go last night, didn’t execute down the stretch. We did that tonight.”

Facing that 36-31 deficit, the Bulldogs began making their way back. A baby hook from Trent Egeland and a driving bucket from Charlie Campbell narrowed Artesia’s deficit to 36-35. It was 38-35 with 3:57 remaining after a pair of free throws by Farmington’s Donathan Tracy, and 40-37 Farmington just 19 seconds later.

But a inside one-handed basket by Campbell drew a foul, and when he sank the and-one, Artesia had tied the game at 40 with 3:13 remaining in the fourth.

Trent Egeland hit a bank shot to give the Bulldogs a 42-40 lead, and Campbell scored a fast-break layup off a turnover to make it a 44-40 game.

With 1:48 left in the fourth, Campbell knocked down a pair of foul shots, and 28 seconds later he was back on the stripe canning two more to give Artesia a 48-40 advantage.

It was 50-42 with 50.9 seconds left, 52-45 with 39 seconds to play. Landon Begay gave Farmington a little life when he hit a trey that brought his team within four, but Campbell went off-glass for the Bulldogs to hand them a 54-48 lead, and they hung on to win by four.

“It was defensive rebounds,” Mondragon said of his team’s late surge. “We feel like that will generate a lot of our offense, and once we get going, I think it’s hard to stop our momentum.”

Campbell and former Hobbs Eagle Braylon Vega led Artesia with 14 points apiece. Begay scored a game-high 18 for Farmington, followed by Tracy with 10.

The Bulldogs are home at 2 p.m. Saturday against Moriarty.