Saturday, February 4, 2006

Poor start equals tough loss at Cobre

Upstart Indians get ahead early as Socorro boys fall

Jason W. Brooks El Defensor Chieftain reporter

After Tuesday's frustrating 69-56 loss at Cobre High School, Socorro boys basketball coach Dominick Romero was asked if his team suffered from "Lobo-itis," an affliction that has overtaken a certain college team in recent years.

If the Warriors do, indeed, have such an ailment, they had better find a vaccine quick, what with more road games on the immediate schedule.

"We didn't blink in the first quarter, and we're down 5-0," Romero told the radio station after the District 3-3A loss. "It was never really a game; we were blown out from the start."

The Indians (5-12, 2-2 in district play after the win) seemed to hit every shot they put up and capitalized on some costly turnovers and missed shots by Socorro.

"We had silly turnovers that I thought we were over, we missed some cupcake layups, and we didn't play with a lot of emotion," said Romero, whose team trailed 40-20 at the half. "We really got it handed to us; it was ugly."

The Warriors, now 11-10 overall, fell to 1-2 in 3-3A with the loss with another tough road game scheduled for Friday night at Hot Springs. Results of that game were not available at press time.

Socorro, which is 8-4 at home this season, won two of three on a neutral court in Pojoaque but is 1-4 in all other games away from Socorro (after the Cobre loss). Their only road win this season was Dec. 3 at Tohatchi.

Cobre, which made five 3-pointers in the first half, has come a long way since losing three straight games last December at the "M" Mountain Classic in Socorro. The Indians made several runs, and each one seemed to be ignited by a different player. Four players finished in double figures for the Indians, led by Nicolas Castro with 20 points.

Socorro climbed back into the game late, but the 13-point deficit at the final buzzer was the closest they had been since the second quarter.

"We chipped away a little late in the game," said Romero, a former Cobre coach. "We had four or five good practices since our last game a week ago (an emotional win over Bernalillo), but we came out lethargic and flat."

Hot Springs (6-12, 0-3) also lost to Cobre by double digits. The Warriors are set to host Grants on Tuesday in another important district battle.

jbrooks@dchieftain.com

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