PICTURED: Braylon Vega floats in for a layup over Gallup's Kelton Edison during the first quarter Wednesday at The Pit.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)
Complete and total domination.
Simply put, there's no other way to describe what the defending Class 4A State Champion Bulldog basketball team unleashed Wednesday evening at The Pit in Albuquerque. Artesia turned its quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 Gallup into an offensive and defensive clinic, limiting the Bengals to fewer than eight points in all four quarters of play while scoring 22 or more of their own through three in an 80-19 victory that left the University of New Mexico's arena in a state of mild shock.
Behind exactly half of the Runnin' 'Dogs' 80 points was senior guard Braylon Vega. Vega virtually couldn't miss from three-point range in the contest, knocking down four treys in the opening quarter to help put the Bengals firmly on their heels and matching that total in the third, ultimately exiting the game with nine longballs and an overall shooting percentage of 82.
"They took our phones last night, so I kind of really got locked in," Vega joked in the post-game press conference. "I just thought about making shots."
The upperclassman manifested that and then some but also shone a spotlight on one of the other major factors behind the 'Dogs' success Wednesday: They were having fun. Vega was cool as a cucumber from the field, and the other half of Artesia's dynamic guard duo -- Charlie Campbell, who finished with 12 points despite not scoring in the second half -- was all smiles, whether he was driving to the hoop or dishing the ball off to teammates, tying Cael Houghtaling on the night with six assists and leading the team with seven steals. On KSVP Radio, Artesia's announcers for the bout -- Joby and Ty Houghtaling -- couldn't help but cheer as their nephew and son, respectively, threw down a two-handed slam on a takeaway midway through the second. As the Bulldogs' bench entered the game en masse in the fourth, the healthy Artesia crowd cheered as Diego Morales, Sawyer Whitehead, Derrick Warren and Jace Deans added their names to the scorebook.
On this night, that other Pit felt a lot more like the one back home. Head coach Michael Mondragon and his staff were happy to see it.
"I've really told these guys, enjoy each other, man," Mondragon said after the game. "We've got 10 seniors -- come out here, make sure you leave no stone unturned, play as hard as you can for 32, and whatever happens happens."
Signs of what was about to happen in this quarterfinal were there from the get-go. Campbell put Artesia on the board before the contest was even underway, going 1-2 from the free-throw line after Gallup was issued a technical foul for dunking the ball during warm-ups after the referees had taken the court. Vega then got the ball rolling with back-to-back trifectas, putting the 'Dogs up 7-0 before the Bengals posted their first field goal at the 5:30 mark on a shot by Joshua Keeto. As it turned out, it would be Gallup's only bucket of the quarter.
"Everybody looks at the fancy stuff, with putting up 80 points and guys hitting shots, but all of it generates from defense," Mondragon said, "and I thought we did a great job today of just frustrating them and making it hard for them."
A baseline drive by Vega was followed by a trey and a jumper from Campbell off an offensive board by Clay Kincaid, and Vega's third three-pointer of the period made it 17-2 Artesia with 3:39 still to go. Campbell hit a pair from the stripe at the 2:12 mark, and with 55 seconds left, Vega splashed in his fourth three to send the 'Dogs into the second up by an even 20, 22-2.
PICTURED: Cael Houghtaling prepares to knock down a jumper during the second quarter.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)
A 15-foot jumper by Vega to open that quarter was followed by a Keeto three, but once again, the boys in orange would deal devastating damage before the Bengals were able to score again. An and-one and a shot in the paint by Corbyn Dominguez off a steal from Kincaid were followed by consecutive breakaway layups off the steal. Campbell laid his in while Tootie McNeil finished his from the line, and that kicked off a significant series of unfortunate events for Gallup. Three straight thefts of Bengal passes by Houghtaling led to buckets from Campbell, Vega, and finally Houghtaling himself in the form of a big slam dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. And after those field goals were followed by another Vega trifecta and a Houghtaling short-range jumper, the Bengals were forced to call a time-out, clearly reeling in the face of a 39-point deficit. Jayson Bruner would hit a three for Gallup with a minute to go in the half, but back-to-back buckets by Trent Egeland off a three-quarter-court pass from Houghtaling and an offensive board by McNeil took the game into intermission with a margin that many online mistook for a typo: 48-8.
"I thought we made a great statement, a great start in the first half," said Mondragon. "You come out and kind of throw the punch. You've gotta give them credit too; they played hard. They never quit and [...] their fans stuck around -- that shows a lot of class, and Coach [Ryan Becenti] is doing a great job with those guys. They continued to play hard for 32 minutes. It was a great start for us, though, for sure."
It would be an equally great finish.
Gallup had slightly more success offensively in the third quarter, getting an offensive putback from Kelton Edison, a jumper from Hanson Atazhoon, and their third trey of the night from Laramie Tom. But Vega was still en fuego from the field, the 35-point mercy-rule clock was in effect, and the Bulldogs were on too much of a roll to be stopped. Two more steals lead to a 2-2 showing from the line by Vega and a layup from Houghtaling, who followed Edison's putback with one of his own to make it 54-10. From there, it was all Vega. An old-fashioned three-point play and a long two combined with four more from beyond the arc to put Artesia on top 71-15 and round out the senior's epic evening.
"Man, this guy here," Mondragon said as he sat alongside Vega in the conference room. "He gets hot like that, shoots the ball like that, and his teammates find him... They had a game plan. They wanted to make sure they took away the inside, and by them taking away the inside, it leaves this guy wide open, and he knocked it down."
With the minutes flying off the clock, the 'Dogs turned things over to their back-ups, who added nine to the final tally while holding Gallup to just four. Morales came through with an and-one around the 6:30 mark and followed that up with a 10-foot J, and Whitehead got a jumper of his own after a 1-2 trip to the stripe by Warren. Deans was fouled as time ran out on the contest and went 1-2 as well to close out Artesia's 61-point win, 80-19.
Rounding out the scoring after Vega's 40 and Campbell's 12 were Houghtaling with eight, Dominguez and Morales with five, Egeland with four, McNeil and Whitehead with two, and Deans and Warren with one. Jack Byers was robbed of a bucket on an offensive foul call early in the game, and Artesia's 6'8" center, Kincaid, was held scoreless as the object of the majority of the Bengals' defensive attention on the night. Keeto finished with seven for Gallup. The Bulldogs converted the Bengals' 23 turnovers into 30 points in the ballgame with 26 fast breaks recorded.
"We always talk about our length," said Mondragon. "Our length is one of our biggest strengths, and our guards are very athletic and long. I thought we really frustrated them. They're not quite as big as us, and we got in the passing lanes and really made things hard. It's hard to finish over our guys. I thought Clay did a great job there. They tried to frustrate him. That's something they took away from us -- they did a good job of that. But when you've got a team like we do, with different guys that can score and different guys making shots, it's hard just to stop one guy."
The Runnin' 'Dogs will now turn their attention to Thursday's state semifinal and No. 3 Hope Christian. The Huskies -- who defeated No. 14 Pojoaque Valley 84-75 in the first round -- made short work of sixth-ranked Albuquerque Academy in their quarterfinal Wednesday, 70-47. Artesia and Hope met Jan. 17 in the championship game of the Hope Christian Tournament, with the Bulldogs coming out on top comfortably, 79-58, in a bout that saw both Vega and Campbell score in the 20s. As Mondragon was quick to point out, however, that was a whole other season ago.
"They've gotten better since January, we've gotten better since January, so it's just a fight -- it's a grind," said the coach. "We'll enjoy this for a couple hours and then we'll get to film, get to work, see where we're at, and get ready for 3 o'clock tomorrow. It's what you work for. You bust your tail all year long, and when you bring back the group that we have, you know, we know how this is up here. It's the state tournament. I don't care what seed you are, you've gotta come out and play four good quarters of basketball and keep building momentum throughout the week.
"Our motto this year is 'Tenacious Mindset,' so we don't worry about anything else but being tenacious, being relentless, playing 32 minutes. We can't worry about what happened last year, we can't worry about last possession. It's next possession, next quarter, next opportunity -- and make sure we enjoy it."
Tickets for Thursday's 3 p.m. state semifinal at The Pit are available for sale online via UNM's ticketing portal only and can be accessed by clicking here. Ticket prices at The Pit are listed at $11 for adults, $7 for students (K-12), seniors (65+) and the military, with chair-back reserved seats available for $15. However, those prices will increase to $15 for adults; $10 for students, seniors and the military; and $19 for reserved seats after UNM's fees are applied. All-Tournament Passes can also be purchased by calling (505) 923-3266 between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays. Tournament passes are the only tickets that allow for re-entry.
Other information of note:
• UNM has a clear-bag policy; bags may not be larger than 12"x6"x12". Gallon-sized Ziploc bags are also acceptable.
• UNM will charge $7 per vehicle for parking.
• Concession sales will be card-only; no cash.
• Livestreaming will be via NFHSNetwork only, which requires a subscription.
PICTURED: Charlie Campbell goes in for a layup off the steal ahead of Gallup's Desean Six.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)
STAT BOX
#2 Artesia 80
#7 Gallup 19
Artesia (24-5): Braylon Vega 14-17, 3-3 40; Charlie Campbell 4-10, 3-4 12; Cael Houghtaling 4-5, 0-0 8; Corbyn Dominguez 2-2, 1-3 5; Diego Morales 2-2, 1-1 5; Trent Egeland 2-4, 0-0 4; Tootie McNeil 0-3, 2-2 2; Sawyer Whitehead 1-2, 0-0 2; Jace Deans 0-2, 1-2 1; Derrick Warren 0-0, 1-2 1; Jack Byers 0-1, 0-0 0; Clay Kincaid 0-1, 0-0 0
Totals: 29-49, 12-17 80
Gallup (22-8): Joshua Keeto 3-9, 0-0 7; Jayson Bruner 2-12, 0-0 5; Laramie Tom 1-2, 0-0 3; Hanson Atazhoon 1-1, 0-0 2; Kelton Edison 1-6, 0-0 2; Desean Six 0-5, 0-2 0; Dwight Calvin 0-1, 0-0 0; Jeremias Cleveland 0-1, 0-0 0; Crevin Watson 0-1, 0-0 0; Kashis Whitman 0-1, 0-0 0
Totals: 8-39, 0-2 19
Field Goals: Artesia 29-49 (59%); Gallup 8-39 (21%)
Three-Pointers: Artesia 10-20 (Vega 9, Campbell 1) (50%); Gallup 3-18 (Bruner 1, Keeto 1, Tom 1) (17%)
Free Throws: Artesia 12-17 (71%); Gallup 0-2 (0%)
Rebounds: Artesia 37 (29 defensive, 8 offensive); Gallup 17 (14 defensive, 3 offensive)
Assists: Artesia 18; Gallup 5
Steals: Artesia 18; Gallup 3
Turnovers: Artesia 13; Gallup 23
Fouls: Artesia 8; Gallup 16
Fouled Out: None