The first game of the 2022 New Year was not the start the Pirates envisioned. The Grants High School boys’ basketball program struggled early against the Taos Tigers (8-3) as their offense sputtered and were unable to contain a trio of double digit Tiger scorers resulting in a 31 point loss to the Tigers, 68-37. “Taos was a tough matchup coming off of break… having multiple players who were sick and missed practice – we were very rusty,” said Grants High School head coach Landon Chavez.
The rust sprouted quickly as the Pirates trailed 18-6 in the first quarter and ended up down 15 points at the half, 28-13. The Pirates only managed 5 points in the quarter off two field goals and one free throw. “We shot about 20% from the field and it’s tough to beat anyone when you can’t score the ball,” added Chavez.
The Pirates third quarter, where they have struggled before, was the deal breaker as they scored only eight points while Taos roared in that quarter with twenty five points, their highest point quarter of the game. When the fourth quarter came around thewriting was on the wall, though the Pirates scored sixteen points to the Tigers 15 points, the point deficit was too strong resulting in the 31 point loss. The Pirates had two players with double digits, Isaiah Hernandez and Colton Moore had 12 points apiece. The Tigers were led the trio of Anthony Padilla,19 points, Daemon Ely, 15 points, and Isaiah Jeantete, 14 points. “The loss was tough and eye opening but I’m confident we’ll stay resilient and respond,” said Chavez.
The Pirates drop to 6-4 and will travel east on I-40 Thursday to the 8-team Gallup Bengals Boys Invitational Tournament to play the 3A Socorro Warriors (6- 3) in the first round. The game is slated for a start time of 1:00pm “Socorro has a combination of size and speed—it is imperative we get back to executing our offense playing with grit on defense,” said Chavez of the upcoming tournament.”
Pirate sports
The Lady Pirates went 1-2 at a recent tournament at Hobbs Holiday Tournaments at Hobbs High School. The lady Pirates lost to Farmington High School (10- 0) on Monday, December 27th by a score of 75-33. The lady Pirates had a closer game on the second day of the tournament as they competed with El Dorado High School (11-6) from El Paso, Texas and lost that game by a score of 55-47. In their third game they found their rhythm and defeated Canutillo High School by a score of 57-39. “We came out slow as it was a morning game and we missed a lot of shots and easy buckets that we usually don’t miss in an evening game” said GHS lady Pirate head coach Douglas “Dougie” Hickman. “We stayed with them the first half then we made adjustments at half time and the girls came through and we pulled ahead and won.” Farmington High School was the eventual champion of that tournament after defeating host Hobbs High School 61-57.
Next up for the Lady Pirates will be Miyamura High School (4-7) on Friday, January 9 in the lady Pirates first home game of 2022. “Miyamura will be another test of our girls—we are going to defend in the low post and work on defensive rebounds as well as limit our turnovers,” said Hickman of that game. GHS wrestling will host a home meet against Belen on Wednesday, January 5.