Taos Tigers move to 0-3 with 55-44 loss to Capital, but making strides

Posted Wednesday, December 7, 2016 9:00 am

Arcenio J. Trujillo

On the shoulders of giants – or, rather a giant – the Taos Tigers are a-ridin'.

In this early part of the 2016-17 basketball season, Taos is relying heavy on their big man, Landen Archuleta, who is swiftly becoming a reliable delivery man for his team.

Archuleta led Taos with 20 points, and essentially “did it all” in the Tigers' 55-44 road loss to the Capital Jaguars in Santa Fe Dec. 6.

Coming into the game, the 2015 class 5A state runners-up were riding a 5-0 start to their season, which included a championship run in the Al Armendariz Tournament this past weekend on their home court. Also, the Jaguars were responsible for one of the Tigers' worst losses of the year at Taos in 2015. Taos was 0-2 – and on the road – so on paper this game had the potential to be extremely lopsided.

Forget to factor in a talent like Archuleta, and teams could almost look past the Tigers.

The Jags almost did.

With his size, ball-handling skills, and his ability to hit mid-range and long-range shots with smooth accuracy, Archuleta is a multiple threat to opposing teams. Those qualities showed in the game against Capital, as his 14 points (and close proximity to the ball at all times) in the second half kept Taos close to pulling off a huge upset.

Save for a few mental mistakes and turnovers late in the game, the Tigers as a whole played with energy and drive. Ian Martinez and Derreck Chacon had break-out games – signaling a upward shift in confidence for the Tigers' young roster, and more ways for Taos to get points on the scoreboard. The result: a not-so-bad loss for the Tigers, who were the underdogs in this cat-fight, and a sloppy win for the heavily favored Jags.

Taos will test this newfound confidence with a home game against the Mora Rangers Dec. 10. The Saturday schedule will include a full state of games at Otero Gymnasium, starting with the freshman team starting at 12:30 p.m. The junior varsity is scheduled to play at 3:30 p.m. and the varsity game will start at 6:30 p.m.