For a Patagonia High boys basketball team that had just been hammered 80-16 in its previous game and has struggled with the fundamental task of scoring points all season long, the start of Tuesday night’s game against Valley Union didn’t bode well.
The Lobos scored all of four points in the first quarter and found themselves trailing 14-9 at the half. That’s right—nine points in 16 minutes of basketball.
But a different pack of Lobos took the court for the second half. Coach Nate Porter cranked up the defensive pressure, effectively rotating 10 players to keep them fresh. Patagonia pulled even with Valley Union midway through the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth for a 44-31 victory. The win avenged a 54-44 loss to the Blue Devils in late November and improved the Lobos’ record to 9-13.
“Our defense set the tone,” Porter said. “We’ve been asking for that kind of constant effort, and today we finally got the defensive intensity we’ve been asking for. And we actually made a couple baskets, which has been a major struggle for us.”
Arturo Magallanes ignited the comeback in the third quarter, hitting a three-point shot and then scoring on a drive to put the Lobos up 20-19. The lead changed hands for the rest of the third quarter and into the fourth until Leo Nunez scored on a drive to make it Patagonia 31, Valley Union 30.
Consecutive three-point baskets by Nunez and freshman Kannon Shore made it 37-30, sparking a 15-1 run for the Lobos to close out the game.
“This was our best effort of the year,” Porter said.
Nunez led the Lobos with 12 points. Diego Carranza scored nine, D.J. Castro eight and Magallanes seven.
Nunez said the team was determined to use last week’s 80-16 loss to fifth-ranked Baboquivari as a learning experience.
“We all came up with little plans here in practice we can get better at,” he said. “We agreed to work on our communication, helping each other when we get down, our intensity.”
Valley Union girls 48, Patagonia 38: The Lobos’ girls team was unable to overcome a 16-point second-half deficit and saw their record slip to 9-8 with a loss to the Valley Union Blue Devils.
The Lobos led 13-10 after the first quarter but scored just four points in the second quarter and trailed 20-17 at the half. Valley Union then went on an 18-5 run to open the third quarter and build a 16-point lead. Patagonia narrowed the gap to 42-34 on a basket by Jenny Vasquez with 4:10 to play but was unable to get any closer.
Janelle Valenzuela had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Lobos, and Emma Lewton also scored 11 and had three steals.
Both Patagonia teams are back in action on Thursday night with home games against Duncan – girls at 5:30 and boys at 7.