Class 2A Quarterfinals: Game Recaps and Top Performers

CLASS 2A QUARTERFINALS – GAME RECAPS   TEXICO 76, MORA 44   How it happened: No. 1 seed Texico steadily wore down Mora en route to the convincing quarterfinals win. The Wolverines outscored Mora by nine points in three of the four quarters. Texico jumped out to a 20-11 lead after the first quarter and expanded the advantage to 37-24 at halftime. Texico's defense clamped down on Mora in the third quarter to pull away. The Wolverines limited Mora to 5 points while scoring 15 to take a commanding 52-29 lead into the fourth quarter. Texico erased any hopes of a Mora comeback by scoring 24 points in the 4Q.     Standout Performers:   Jaheim Moses, Texico: Scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.     [player_tooltip player_id='2833696' first='Jett' last='Curtis'], Texico: Scored 14 points for the Wolverines.   PECOS 60, MENAUL 51   How it happened: No. 2 sed Pecos used their team speed and a balanced scoring attack to defeat Menaul. The Panthers had THREE players with 12 points, while another had 11. The tone was set early as Pecos limited Menaul to just five points in the first quarter, and 16 in the first half. The Panthers led, 23-16, at halftime. Pecos gradually began to pull away in the third quarter, building a 39-28 lead going into the fourth quarter. They maintained the advantage for most of the fourth quarter and shortcircuited every Menaul comeback attempt in the nine-point win.           Standout Performers   Cameron Holton, Pecos: Scored 12 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, made 4 steals and dished out 3 assists to lead the Panthers.   Brandyn Encinias, Pecos: Scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting   J'Quan Samuels, Menaul: Led Menaul with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Pecos Head Coach Arthur Gonzales comments on his team's quarterfinal win over Menaul. <a href="https://t.co/ItXENOkiAM">pic.twitter.com/ItXENOkiAM</a>— NMAA (@_NMAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2031811563837878413?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2026</a></blockquote>   MESILLA VALLEY CHRISTIAN 69, SANTA ROSA 68   How it happened: Santa Rosa jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the opening 3 minutes as the Lions' size and skill troubled MVC. A Lions 3-pointer by Lachlan Ross from the wing made it 17-6 with 3-1/2 minutes left in 1Q. The lead grew to 26-10 on a nifty driving layup and another 3-pointer from the wing by Ross, who scored 15 points in the 1Q. Santa Rosa led, 26-12, after the 1Q. The impressively quick Ross stayed hot into the 2Q, draining his fourth triple. Sanat Rosa built the 1st half lead to 37-17 midway through the 2Q on a layup, 3-pointer by [player_tooltip player_id='2827293' first='Josh' last='Cordova'] and a driving layup along the baseline. MVC surged (13-4 run) to close the gap to 41-30 with 51 seconds left in the 2Q. Halftime: Santa Rosa 41, Mesilla Valley Christian 30.   MVC sandwiched a driving layup and conventional 3-point play around Ross' jumper to cut the deficit to 8 points at 43-35 early in the 3Q. Then a 3-pointer from the corner narrowed the gap even more, 43-38. Two free throws and suddenly the SonBlazers were within 3 points, 43-40. The teams went back-and-forth. MVC made it 46-44 before Santa Rosa righted the ship with a blocked shot on one end and a layup in transition at the other. Two free throws by Andrew Urban with 0.3 seconds left closed out the quarter's scoring. The Lions led, 54-46, after the 3Q. MVC, though, opened the 4Q with a 5-0 run to close to within 54-51 with 7 minutes left. The SonBlazers tied the score at 54-54 on a 3-pointer from the corner, then took a 57-54 lead on another triple, completing the rally from a 20-point deficit.   Two free throws made it 59-54 before Santa Rosa's 5-0 run tied the score at 59-59 with 4:24 left. The score was tied 64-64 when a layup gave MVC a 66-64 lead. Two FTs by Santa Rosa tied the score again at 66-66 when timeout was called with 1:01 left. The final 20 seconds were crazy. After Santa Rosa hit a free throw to take a 68-67 lead, MVC called timeout with 21.1 seconds. The SonBlazers worked the ball around and scored on a layup with about 6 seconds left to take a 69-68 lead. Santa Rosa brought the ball down the court and looked to attempt a 3-pointer. But the ball was stripped and MVC celebrated stunning come-from-behind win. MVC shot 68.4 percent (13-19) in the 2H.   Standout Performers:   [player_tooltip player_id='2833760' first='Camden' last='Daves'], MVC: Sparked MVC's remarkable comeback by scoring 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking 3 shots.   Cameron Evaro, MVC: Scored 13 points with a pair of 3-pointers in MVC's thrilling win.   Lachlan Ross, Santa Rosa:  Scored 19 points in the 1st half as the Lions took an 11-point lead. He finished with 21 points, while [player_tooltip player_id='2827293' first='Josh' last='Cordova'] had 19 points.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/gRDELzjT_rg?si=e1VphI1oObR6o7RA </div></figure>   REHOBOTH CHRISTIAN 67, MESA VISTA 61 (OT)   How it happened: This was a physical affair from the opening tip with every point being hard-earned. Mesa Vista built an early 12-8 lead. A Trojans 3-pointer made it 15-8. From there, the Trojans kept building on its lead, shooting well from beyond the arc. The Trojans led, 39-19, at halftime, connecting on six 3-pointers in the first  half. Santiago Gallegos led the way with three 3-pointers, while [player_tooltip player_id='1533973' first='Jordan' last='Gallegos'] (13 points in 1H) had two. [player_tooltip player_id='2977319' first='Andres' last='Valdez'] had 10 points and 4 rebounds in the first half.     Rehoboth Christian's [player_tooltip player_id='2827325' first='Trajen' last='West'] got hot in the third quarter, scoring three consecutive baskets for the Lynx, who managed to reduce the gap to 14 points at 41-27.  Another basket by West in transition and a steal and basket moments later made it 43-33, the closest the Lynx had been in a while. When West's 3-pointer swished through the net with about 2-1/2 minutes left in the 3Q, the Lynx were suddenly within 7 points at 43-36. By that point, Rehoboth Christian had outscored Mesa Vista, 17-4, in the third quarter. West won the scramble for s loose ball and drove in for a layup to make it 45-40 with seconds left in the 3Q.   Rehoboth Christian scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to even the score at 45-45, completely wiping out Mesa Vista's 20-point halftime lead. The teams battled back-and-forth with only a free throw by Messa Vista to show for about a three-minute stretch. Thijs Meester's 3-pointer gave Rehoboth Christian a 48-46 lead with 3:20 left. Kodah Chapman's corner jumper off a scramble gave the Lynx a 50-46 lead with 1:44 left, forcing a timeout from Mesa Vista. The Trojans finally scored a basket to cut the deficit in two, then forced a turnover. But a 3-point attempt from the corner missed. West canned two FTs with 55.3 seconds left to make it a two-possession game at 52-48. On the ensuing possession following a timeout, Mesa Vista buried a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a 1-point game, 52-51.   West took matters into his own hands as he took an inbounds and drove the length of the court before he was fouled. He hit both free throws  for a 54-51 lead. Mesa Vista hurried down the floor and had several 3-point attempts clang off the rim,. But they managed to grab the rebound every time. Finally, the ball swung to [player_tooltip player_id='1533973' first='Jordan' last='Gallegos'] in the corner and he buried the triple at the buzzer to force overtime. 54-54!     The Lynx took a 58-56 lead in OT. After a defensive stop, West hit a lane jumper to give Rehoboth Christian a 60-56 lead with 2:15 left in OT. A free throw made it 61-56, forcing Mesa Vista to hurry their offense. They scored, but Rehoboth Christian hit 2 FTs on the other end to make it 63-58. Two more FTs with 56 secs left pushed the lead to 65-59, a two-possession game. Trailing 65-61, Mesa Vista forced a tie-up and got possession. A shot attempt fell short. Rehoboth scored 1 more basket to secure the stunning victory. The Lynx outscored Mesa Vista, 48-22, in the second half and OT, connecting on 16-of-21 shots.           Standout Performers:   [player_tooltip player_id='2827325' first='Trajen' last='West'], Rehoboth Christian: West carried the Lynx on his back for stretches of the game, particularly in the second half. He finished with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 12 rebounds.   Thijs Meester, Rehoboth Christian: Scored 16 points and went 9-of-12 from the free throw line to help lift the lynx to the huge comeback win.   [player_tooltip player_id='1533973' first='Jordan' last='Gallegos'], Mesa Vista: Scored 26 points. including the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation, and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Trojans.   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Rehoboth Christian Head Coach Kevin Zwiers comments on his team's quarterfinal win over Mesa Vista. <a href="https://twitter.com/nusendacu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nusendacu</a> <a href="https://t.co/4sJYHVlJ7I">pic.twitter.com/4sJYHVlJ7I</a>— NMAA (@_NMAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2031921152864714875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2026</a></blockquote>   2A SEMIFINALS (Fri., March 13 at The Pit)   Texico vs. Mesilla Valley Christian, 11:30 a.m.     Pecos vs. Rehoboth Christian, 8 a.m.

CLASS 2A QUARTERFINALS – GAME RECAPS