Logan boys rally past Roy-Mosquero

LOGAN - After a closely fought first half, the big men on the Logan boys basketball team asserted their will on Roy-Mosquero in the second half during an 81-66 victory Saturday in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.

Six-foot-6 forward Hayden Bruhn scored 24 points, and 6-foot-4 center Mason Wallin added 23 - mostly in the critical second half when the Longhorns led by as much as 23. Point guard Brock Burns totaled 21 points.

Fifth-seeded Logan (24-5) advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will face district rival and fourth-seeded Melrose (24-4) at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday at Bernalillo High School. The Buffaloes downed 13th-seeded Mesilla Valley Christian 51-36 in their first-round game.

The winner of the Logan-Melrose matchup faces the winner of the Magdalena-Evangel Christian game at 4:45 p.m. Thursday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Magdalena is the No. 1 seed of the tournament.

The championship is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at The Pit in Albuquerque.

The first half of Saturday's game saw nine lead changes. Jackson Fudge scored 15 of his team-high 24 points in the half and got the Roy-Mosquero crowd roaring in Logan's gymnasium. The Blue trailed just 30-29 at intermission.

Logan coach Kyle Griffiths said he didn't overlook Roy-Mosquero, despite their 12th seed, their 15-11 record going into the game and the fact his team won 78-46 during a non-district matchup on Dec. 2.

"They weren't a 12-seed in my eyes," he said. "I knew we beat them early in the season, but they'd been playing a lot better. I knew they had players that could shoot and some good athletes, so I knew it wasn't going to be an easy game. We talked about that all week."

The Blue still had a 38-37 lead midway through the third quarter, then the Longhorns began attacking close to the hoop. Wallin scored eight points and Bruhn seven during a 21-9 run to give Logan a 58-49 lead at the end of the period.

Fudge also picked up his third and fourth fouls in the quarter, leaving The Blue without a potent offensive weapon for a critical time.

The Longhorns put the game away with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for a 77-54 lead. Bruhn scored six points during the run and Wallin four.

"I think the main thing we did in the second half is we changed our offense up a little bit and were just a little bit more patient," Griffiths said. "We tried to really get it inside because we knew that's where we had the advantage. Our big guys did a good job finishing there in the third and fourth quarter, and I think that was honestly the difference in the game."

Roy-Mosquero coach Blair Clavel said the Longhorns wore down his squad.

"I think we just run out of gas," he said. "We don't have a big bench; those guys got to stay in and work most of the game. And in the second half, (Logan's) bigs started getting points on us in the paint. When a good team gets up on you like that, you're not going to come back very often."

Roy-Mosquero figures to be a strong team next season, with their four top scorers underclassmen and it graduating just two seniors.