GRANTS, N.M. - “Getting our first district win is always a positive– especially when it’s St. Pius,” said GHS boys head coach Landon Chavez.
“We hadn’t beat them in 9 matchups leading up to last Friday night.”
The Pirates outscored the Sartans 15-9 in the first quarter and outscored them by ten points in the second quarter (19-0) for a halftime score of 34-17.
The Sartans launched a comeback in the second half outsourcing the Pirates 11 to 10 in the 3rd quarter and 18 to 13 in the 4th quarter however, they were unable overcome the point deficit from The first half in the second half and lost 57-46.
“Coudy Melonas led our attack– although getting in foul trouble his impact was evident,” said Chavez.
“Building our lead early in the first half helped us to control the game throughout.”
Chavez added, “We knew Carpenter would be tough to contain– but we wanted to speed up the game and allow our pressure to disrupt their rhythm.”
Isaiah Carpenter led the Sartans with 17 points.
In that game Daniel Garcia led the Pirates with 16 points, followed by Coudy Melonas with 14 points and Meliki Torres had 11 points.
Next up for the Pirates will be a tough matchup with the 2nd ranked team in 4A basketball, the Highland Hornets (13-4, 1-0).
“Highland will be the toughest opponent we have faced all season,” said Chavez. “They are big, athletic and can shoot—also they defend at a high rate.”
While they are a “difficult challenge” Chavez plans on competing with them and giving them their best shot. The game is scheduled for January 27th at home.
The Pirates are 3rd in district 5 4A just behind Valencia and Highland