Questa topples green giant to take third at NRG tourney
After an exciting win to claim third place at the Men's 69th Annual Northern Rio Grande(NRG) basketball tournament, the Questa Wildcats boy's team and their coaches pause for a victory photo. As the newest members of the historic league, Questa won two-of-three games in the tourney - including a 59-58 overtime win over the Mora Rangers - to finish third.
Miguel Rael threads the needle as he delivers a pass in the closing moments of overtime during the third-place game of the against the Mora Rangers at Pojoaque Jan. 7. Rael and his Wildcat teammates would prevail with a 59-58 win, and the senior would be recognized as "Scholar Athlete" in a post-game ceremony by NRG Tournament officials.
Pushing the pace in the backcourt, Questa senior, TJ Madrid edges out his defender to advance towards the Wildcat's hoop during the third-place game against the Mora Rangers at the 69th Annual Northern Rio Grande basketball tournament Jan. 7. Madrid would finish the tournament with 53 total points - guiding the Wildcats to wins over Peñasco and Mora - tp capture third place for Questa.
In only their third appearance at the Northern Río Grande (NRG) basketball tournament, the Questa Wildcats came away with the third-place trophy after an exciting overtime win against the Mora Rangers Jan. 7. The win ended a long drought against the Rangers that dates back to Jan. 23, 2009. Since then, Mora has beaten Questa nine straight times – including seven consecutive wins against the Wildcats since both teams joined District 5-2A in 2014. Given that both these teams lost to a pair of Class 3A teams in the NRG semifinals the night before, this could have easily been considered a championship of the smaller schools.
The finish was one for the ages as Justin Madrid and Toby Ortega delivered key shots down the stretch in regulation. Down by five points with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats rallied — going on a 7-2 run in the last three minutes of of the fourth quarter to tie the game and force overtime. Madrid, along with his brother, T.J., would provide points in the overtime period to clinch the win for the Wildcats. At the end of the overtime period and down by two, Questa’s Justin Madrid hit a three-point shot from the baseline to put the Wildcats up by one with 12.3 seconds left.
“I was lying on the floor as I watched the shot [from Justin] sail through the air,” said brother T.J., who delivered the pass to Justin before falling to the ground. “When it went in, I leaped up from from the ground. It was awesome.”
A strong defensive stand by Questa would prevent the Rangers from attempting a shot in the waning moments, and the triumphant Wildcats came away with a 59-58 victory.
Due to an ongoing water issue in the village of Questa – which has resulted in canceled classes and has prevented the use of the “Mini-Pit” since Dec. 5 – the Wildcats had been on a game hiatus for the past 25 days. In that span, even practices were sporadic.
“This is our first full-speed action in close to a month,” said coach Tomas Madrid. “I wasn’t sure how our guys would respond, but they did great these past three days.”
Questa ended up in the third-place game after a 65-40 win against Peñasco in the opening round Jan. 5. In that game, T.J. Madrid would lead all scorers with 23 points. He would be joined by Justin Madrid, who would add 16. Ortega and Jeremy Cintas added 10 each and Jonathan Rivera had one point.
The Wildcats would go on to lose to the Dulce Hawks in the semifinal game Jan. 6. Experiencing an off night, the Wildcats would struggle from the field and the free-throw line and go down by a final score of 63-42. Again, it was the older Madrid (T.J.) who led in scoring with 13 points on the night. Younger brother (Justin) was the only other double-digit scorer with 10.
“This was one of our goals at the start of the season – to do well at the NRGs,” said Coach Madrid. “I think we’re right where we need to be.”
Next up for the Wildcats (6-3) is an away game in Laguna-Acoma Jan. 12. Varsity is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. The next home game for the Wildcats will be against Antonito (Colorado) Jan. 14. Tipoff in the “Mini-Pit” is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
