The Hot Springs Tigers are the 2019 State Champions for class 3A.
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New Mexico High School Basketball
No. 3 Hot Springs 56, No. 4 Santa Fe Indian 54 (OT)
Hot Springs Captures First Title Since 1993
Two years ago at this time the Hot Springs Tigers were an eight game winning team and far away from a state title. Introduce new Head Coach Derek Bean and off they went. Last year the team improved to 15-wins and state tournament berth, however, it swiftly ended with a first round 49-point loss at Bernalillo. Afterwards Coach Bean said with a little laugh, "Why do you have to bring that up?
We don't want to talk about that."The state tournament conversation is now much different following Hot Springs 56-54 come from behind overtime victory over Santa Fe Indian.
The Braves opened the game with a 6-0 run and it wasn't until the 5:22 mark that Verrels Lukman got his big day going for the Tigers with a three for his teams first points. Lukman ended up finishing with a game-high 17 points and while also pulling down 8 rebounds.
The Braves led 14-11 after one and following a James Bridges steal and Virgil Valencia score Santa Fe Indian had opened up a 28-14 lead with 3:05.
The Tigers held the Braves scoreless the rest of the half but only put four points on the board themselves and headed up the ramp down 28-18 at halftime.Hot Springs opened the second half by continuing to flex their defensive muscles and this time their offense came along for the ride. The Tigers had a 15-4 run to claim their first lead of the game with Lukman punctuating the run with a three.
The Tigers ended up taking a 38-36 lead into the fourth where it was now the Braves turn to rally back. Which they did, going 10-5 through the first five minutes to grab a 46-43 lead. Lukman got a steal and score then a pair of Coltin Whitehead free-throws gave Hot Springs a 47-46 lead with 56.6.
Virgil Valencia split a pair of free-throws with 32.4 left to tie the game and Whitehead was just off with his buzzer beating shot and we ended regulation tied at 47.
Whitehead put the Tigers ahead 51-49 with a finger roll layup with two minutes to go, a lead they would not relinquish. Despite a mental error of too many players on the court in the final moments which allowed for a last second heave for Santa Fe Indian the Tigers survived 56-54.
"Trust the process, put we over me, and follow that with defense. Defense won the game for us today. We got down early but we've been here before we just had to believe in what we were doing. They don't give up, they don't know how, they just keep fighting. That's what I love most about them," Bean commented.
FINAL STATS
Hot Springs
Verrels Lukman 17 points 8 rebounds. Coltin Whitehead 11 pointsTino Luna 8 points 11 rebounds
21-49 (43%) FG3-12 (25%) 3PT11-19 (58%) FT.
8 steals 1 block 10 turnovers
Santa Fe Indian
James Bridges 16 points 7 rebounds. Jaden Aguino 11 points. Ethan Roanhorse 10 points
22-46 (48%) FG3-14 (21%) 3PT7-16 (44%) FT
9 steals 2 blocks 11 turnovers
