No. 2 Pecos boys advance to 11th straight 2A semifinal, fending off Menaul
· Yahoo Sports
RIO RANCHO — It's a streak that speaks to the strength of the Pecos boys basketball program, and it added one more year to it Wednesday.
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Behind a balanced effort that saw three players score 12 points and another 11, the second-seeded Panthers advanced to their 11th straight Class 2A semifinal with a 60-51 win over No. 10 Albuquerque Menaul in The Rio Rancho Events Center.
Pecos will play the winner between No. 6 Rehoboth Christian and No. 3 Mesa Vista in The Pit Friday at 8 a.m.
The win was the 10th straight for the Panthers, but more importantly, they have a chance to play in their eighth state championship in the past 10 years. Pecos head coach Arthur Gonzales said it's a streak current players value and future players want to continue.
"I love it because every kid coming up from our JV, the seventh- and eighth-graders, all of them want to be a part of this," Gonzales said. "They have that hunger that's instilled in them at a young age."
That hunger for success manifests itself in an unselfishness that underscores the ultimate goal for the Panthers — winning. Led by 5-foot-3 junior Carlos Ragland, Pecos' distribution was almost flawless. Junior Estevan Olivas was one point away from having five Panthers in double figures.
Perhaps the biggest contributor was Pecos' smallest player. Ragland had nine points in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting, and all nine points came during a crucial 15-2 run that gave the Panthers a 23-7 lead on his 25-foot 3-pointer with 3:53 left.
Menaul, also nicknamed the Panthers, used a closing 9-0 run to get within 23-16 at the half, but Pecos responded early in the third with an 11-2 spurt to build the lead to 37-21 on Ragland's 3 from the with 2:42 left.
Menaul steadily chipped away at the Pecos lead, and got within 55-49 on a free throw from J'Quan Samuels with 1:12 left. The Panthers helped the cause by missing six of seven free throws during that stretch, but Brandyn Encinias scored the last five points to seal the victory.