The Patagonia High School boys basketball team took out five weeks of frustration on San Simon on Thursday night, suffocating the Longhorns with relentless defensive pressure to secure a 53-26 victory and end a five-game losing streak.
The victory was the first for the Lobos since Dec. 5, when they were competing in the Coach Edgar Brown Holiday Basketball Tournament in Williams, and was their first of the season on their home court.
Patagonia’s previous two losses were in overtime, 38-36 to Valley Union in which they failed to protect a 13-point first-half lead, and 44-41 to Bagdad on Dec. 27 at Mortgage Matchup Center—the Phoenix Suns’ home court.
Despite losing to Bagdad, the loss might have served as a turning point for the Lobos’ season. Bagdad is one of the top Class 1A schools in the state with a 15-1 record.
“The Bagdad game showed them what [we] can do when [we] execute offensively and play with energy and defensive intensity,” Patagonia coach Nate Porter said. “We’re never going to score 100 points, but we can hold teams 15 to 20 below their average. That’s the secret to winning games.”
Patagonia’s overall record is 6-10, but all five of its previous victories came in tournament play and are not calculated in rankings used to qualify for the state tournament. For those purposes, the Lobos are 1-5.
Thursday’s 53-point output was their highest of the year. Nine of Patagonia’s 10 players scored in the victory, led by senior Noah Gallardo’s season-high 14 points, which included a pair of three-point shots. Senior Diego Paddila scored 10—eight of those in the first quarter—and junior Kannon Shore added nine.
“I’ve been averaging like zero points the past few games,” Gallardo said. “This game, I don’t know what happened.”
Gallardo said the Valley Union loss before the Christmas break was a lesson for the Lobos.
“It definitely taught us that we need to give more energy and just keep playing basketball,” he said.
The Lobos jumped out to a 16-4 lead against the Longhorns and held a 28-14 edge at the half. Gallardo and Porter both said there was no mention of the Valley Union letdown during the break. “No sir,” said Gallardo. “Just keep moving forward.”
Added Porter: “Nope, I just said zero-zero.”
The Lobos were without senior forward Gus Varela, who was out with an illness, but Porter often employed his 10 healthy players in groups of five, subbing them in and out at will, playing with an intensity that seemed to wear San Simon down.
“We were without one of our best players and Kannon (Shore) didn’t shoot well, but we still scored 52 points,” Porter said. “It was really good to see the team play so well together.
“We want defensive intensity and energy, and they brought that today. It’s amazing when everybody one through 10 comes out there and does something positive.”
In Thursday’s girls game, San Simon outscored Patagonia 13-8 in the fourth quarter to secure a 34-30 victory. The Lobos trailed 28-22 before senior Emma Lewton scored seven consecutive points to give Patagonia a short-lived one-point lead. But a three-point play by San Simon’s Bryleigh Sloan and a three-point basket by Alexa Rios in the final minutes sent the Lobos to defeat.
Lewton led the Lobos (4-10) with 13 points, and Valeria Castellanos added seven. Patagonia was hurt by making only 3 of 17 free throws.
The Patagonia boys will play three games over a four-day span, hosting Superior on Saturday at 4 p.m., traveling to The Gregory School on Monday and hosting Andrada Polytechnic on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The girls will play at Gregory on Monday, but their next home game is not until Jan. 24 vs. Ray.
