Hilltoppers Fall To Elks In District Matchup

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on February 19, 2023
- 6:41 am

Ricky Valdez wins the tip-off to start the game against the Elks Friday night at Ben Lujan Gymnasium. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

Kyle Evenhus drives the lane in the second half. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By MIKE COTE
Sports
Los Alamos Daily Post

Calling Friday night’s second half at Ben Lujan Gymnasium a two-man show couldn’t be any truer for the Los Alamos Hilltopper boys basketball team.

Los Alamos had just two players score points after the break, Niko Garcia and Josiah Fresquez. Garcia scored all 8 points Los Alamos came up with in the third quarter against the Pojoaque Valley Elks, while Fresquez score 18 points all by himself in the fourth quarter.

Despite Fresquez’s best efforts in that fourth quarter – Fresquez brought the Hilltoppers back from a double-digit deficit with a chance to cut the Elk lead down to just one point – Pojoaque Valley got just enough offense in that fourth quarter to win it 51-46.

That game was broadcast on the Los Alamos Daily Post’s YouTube channel.

The Hilltoppers (10-16 overall, 4-4 in District 2-4A) needed a win Friday to have a reasonable chance at postseason berth this season, but had to find a way to slow down Pojoaque Valley’s leading scorer, Derek Sanchez, who hung 37 points on the Hilltoppers in their first meeting Jan. 31.

For the most part Friday, Los Alamos did a respectable job against Sanchez, who is one of the most prolific scorers in New Mexico high school basketball history. Los Alamos rotated defensive personnel on Sanchez all night and that kept him a little bit off balance.

While Sanchez scored 26 points to lead everyone, it wasn’t the unstoppable performance he turned in at the meeting in Los Alamos.

Unfortunately, in the second half, three of the players keeping an eye out on Sanchez, Rick Valdez, Kyle Evenhus and Enrique Tafoya, all got in foul trouble. Evenhus and Valdez would both foul out of the game in the fourth quarter and their absence was felt down the stretch.

Fresquez, meanwhile, put up all but a handful of shots for Los Alamos in the fourth quarter. Fresquez went 8-for-8 from the foul line, as well, before his first miss, which was a 3-point play attempt that would’ve put Los Alamos within 1 point of the Elks (15-10, 4-3).

Fresquez finished with 20 points on the night. Outside of him and Garcia, the Hilltoppers only got a smattering of points from anyone else on the night.

Los Alamos had a chance to tie for a district regular season title at the start of the week, but losses to Taos and Pojoaque Valley dropped it to third place, and it could slip into fourth place pending the outcome of the Elks’ game with Moriarty.

More importantly, the Hilltoppers will probably not be the subject of any serious conversation for an at-large bid in the upcoming Class 4A playoffs.

Josiah Fresquez tries to get around an Elk underneath the basket. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com