JT Keith
The Artesia boys’ basketball team spent much of the season on top, carrying a No. 1 ranking and the weight of expectations that came with it. Every opponent treated the Bulldogs like the team to beat, bringing their best night after night.
That run ended on March 14.
Despite returning 10 seniors from last year’s Class 4A state championship team, Artesia fell to Highland 71-62 in the title game, a loss that closed one chapter but underscored how much more the season meant to those involved.
“We didn’t play our best,” coach Michael Mondragon said. “I’m not going to say we played horribly. You have to give Highland credit. I thought they did a good job controlling tempo and making shots at crucial times.”
Mondragon, who has coached three championship games, said those moments often hinge on variables no box score can explain — a loose ball, a whistle, a shot that falls or rims out.
“A lot of it is luck,” he said. “You need something to bounce your way.”
This time, nothing did.
During a pivotal stretch, guard Braylon Vega was called for a travel after finishing through contact for what initially appeared to be an and-one. Mondragon said if the foul had been called on Highland’s Nico Sanchez — the team’s best player — it would have been his fourth, a moment that could have shifted the game.
Instead, play moved on, and so did time.
What lingered long after the final buzzer wasn’t the loss itself, Mondragon said, but the realization that his time with this group was over.
The coach spoke quietly as he talked about the relationships he built with his 12 players — bonds formed over the last two years, since they were sophomores.
“They’re like my sons,” Mondragon said. “I’ve been so close to them.”
One of his favorite memories came just weeks before the state tournament, when he had the team over for a steak dinner. Players mixed with his children, assistant coaches, and their families — a simple night that reflected how intertwined their lives had become.
“It’s emotional,” Mondragon said. “And it should be. You’re not doing it right if you don’t feel this. And you’re not doing it right if you don’t have relationships.
Artesia guards Braylon Vega and Cael Houghtaling talk during the game against Highland.
“This is so much more than basketball,” he added. “It’s about building relationships with young men who are going to be great dads and husbands. I’m trying not to cry, but it’s hard.”
Throughout the season, Mondragon said the Bulldogs were defined by selflessness. Talent was never the issue.
Players like senior Sawyer Whitehead, he said, were capable of starting for many teams across the state. Instead, Whitehead accepted his role without complaint, never allowing individual ambition to divide the group.
“They never did that,” Mondragon said. “Because it’s about the team. If you want continued success, it has to be the ‘we’ before the ‘me.’ These guys lived that.”
Mondragon said he has never experienced prolonged success in his coaching career until this group. For younger players, he said the Class of 2026 has permanently raised expectations.
“I told our first- and second-year kids that you’ve set the standard,” he said. “We’ve won back-to-back state championships. That doesn’t change. Now it’s time to get in the weight room, get in the gym, and live there if we want to be back.”
The Bulldogs’ recent success speaks for itself. Artesia has won seven District 4A-4 championships, reached the state tournament 12 straight years, and appeared at The Pit nine times in the last 12 seasons.
After the loss, Mondragon gathered his team in the locker room and offered perspective instead of regret.
“This is one to two percent of your life,” he told them. “Don’t let this be the highest moment. There’s a ladder. You climb it one rung at a time. If you look too high, you fall. If you look behind you, you trip.”
For Mondragon, the pride remained.
“I’m proud of the way they finished,” he said. “I’m proud of how they represented our school, our town, our program, and themselves.”
And for a coach who has measured success by relationships rather than trophies, that mattered more than any title ever could.
