Alamo Cougars are not first round exits this season

Alamo celebrated their 54-50 victory at home over the Grady Bronchos on Saturday, March 7, in the first round of the state playoffs.

“I feel great. All the hard work we did is showing right now. Hasn’t been a smooth ride for us. That's what's nice about it. I like the challenge. Feels good to win. It's a relief. Now people know that we're not just…first round exits,” #32 Andy Pino said.

It was a close, back-and-forth game that had Grady up 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. Alamo then scored eight unanswered points before Grady closed it back in to 21-20 at halftime. 

The Cougars again scored eight unanswered to start the third quarter, and the Bronchos clawed back to 38-34 by the end of the quarter. 

Grady tied it up at 38-38 early in the fourth quarter. Alamo runs gave them seven-point leads twice in the fourth, even with just 1:26 on the clock for a 51-44 lead. Yet the Bronchos kept up the pressure, scoring six in that remaining time and getting to within a single scoring opportunity with under 10 seconds left. The Cougars fought off the comeback attempt. Another trip to the free throw line gave them a 54-50 lead with 2.8 seconds left, leaving Grady with only a hope for a long 3-pointer plus foul chance which did not come to pass.

“Just amazing, especially my last year, too,” #23 Scotty Guerro said. “My teammates were stepping up. The underclassmen stepped up, and we took today's dub [W].”

Pino led the team with 23 points in the game and #1 Cobre Mexicano contributed 17 points to the Alamo win.

The win sends the #5 seed Cougars to the state playoff quarterfinals to face the #4 seed Melrose Buffaloes on Wednesday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Bernalillo High School.

“I feel excited. The last time we played in Bernalillo, we played against Melrose. That was my freshman year, and we lost it in the quarter finals. So this year I'm coming in, I'm coming back to beat them in the quarter finals, to get my get back,” #33 Zephaniah Guerro said.

The Cougars are feeling confident and say they are going to study every team as the head into the final rounds of the state playoffs.