Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A depleted Logan boys basketball team’s run in the Class 1A state tournament came to an early end with a 61-41 opening-round loss Saturday at Elida.
The Longhorns were without junior guard Dante Sanchez, who averaged a team-leading 22 points per contest, because he was ejected during a previous game and was prohibited from playing in the subsequent matchup.
The cold-shooting Longhorns fell behind 11-4 in the first quarter, and the Tigers closed it in the fourth quarter with a 19-7 run.
“We had a lot of great looks, but the ball just didn’t go into the hole,” Logan coach Kyle Griffiths said.
Wyatt Wright and Michael Sena led Logan with 10 points each. Garrett Bollinger added nine points.
Logan, a 10th-seed in the tournament, finished the season with a 15-14 record.
The Longhorns are losing two seniors — center Jason Knight and sidelined guard Jantzen Paris, who suffered a serious knee injury during football season and underwent surgery.
“Jason has been a big asset to our team the last three years,” Griffiths said. “He came to work every day and gave it everything he had.
“Jantzen wasn’t able to play this year but he never missed a practice all year. He helped us in any way that we needed him and was a huge motivational guy for our team.”
Two other teams in Logan’s district — No. 1 Melrose and sixth-seeded Fort Sumner — remained alive in the tournament after the weekend’s games.
Seventh-seeded Elida (22-7) advances to play second-seeded Maxwell (23-4) at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday at Bernalillo High School.
The winner of that game plays in the semifinal at 1:15 p.m. Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. The championship game will be 6 p.m. Saturday at the Dreamstyle Arena, aka The Pit, in Albuquerque.