Tough Steers season ender

In a departure from normal Magdalena boys teams that run and gunned opponents into submission, this year’s squad relied on its interior size to dominate teams in the paint.

And that worked just fine until the Steers ran into a team that not only matched them in size, but actually surpassed them.

That left Magdalena scrambling for answers in the semifinals of the Class 1A New Mexico state high school championships. The Steers loss ended a string of four straight championship game appearances.

No. 1 LOGAN 54, No. 4 MAGDALENA 30

While Steers (25-6) front court players Joseph Zamora and Jeffrey Stuteville both check in at 6-foot, 5-inches, they were both giving away several inches to the Longhorns 6-8 post Hayden Bruhn.

“They’re big,” Zamora admitted. “But I think we match up well with them.”

Perhaps, but not quite well enough as Logan (25-3) used that size to not only beat the Steers, but also to take the state championship.

Bruhn and 6-5 forward Mason Wallin combined for 29 points and 17 rebounds, while Magdalena’s big two combined for 16 points and 18 rebounds.

Despite the size discrepancy, Steers coach Jory Mirabal said the game actually got away from them late in the second quarter with some sloppy play.

“We came in with a good game plan,” he said. “We kind of controlled things, maybe except for the first two minutes of the third quarter and the last 30 seconds of the second quarter.”

The Steers committed three quick turnovers just before halftime, all of which were turned into points, giving Logan a 20-15 halftime lead.

“That kind of deflated us,” Mirabal said. “I don’t think we really mentally recovered after that. I was thinking about what I could have done better to change things.”

That was certainly a key turning point, said Magdalena point guard Ayden Herschbach.

“We had some silly turnovers that I think cost us the game,” he said. “It can be pretty tough, especially when you’re playing so good and then right at the end you kind of fall apart. The toughest part is to go back into game and get mentally strong and get back where you were.”

The Steers did not recover well after halftime, getting outscored 13-5 in the third quarter and they did not have the firepower to get back into the game.

Stuteville led Magdalena’s scoring effort with nine points and Zamora added seven, while Herschbach and Jacob Markland each contributed six.

It was a tough way to go out, Zamora said, although there were plenty of strong memories along the way.

“It’s been great,” he said of his high school basketball experience. “It’s been fun every year having the opportunity to be a part of such a good organization and be a part of great teams. I’ve been playing since my eighth grade year and we made it to the championship every year. Every year except for this one so that’s always a good experience.”

No. 4 MAGDALENA 43, No. 5 ROY/MOSQUERO 31

The quarterfinal game went more according to plan as the Steers controlled the game from the outset.

“We felt like we had a size advantage and we were working our game inside-out,” Mirabal said. “We get some good looks inside and that set them up for the outside.”

The Blue (22-7) allowed Magdalena to play at a tempo the Steers wanted and that was just fine with Mirabal.

“They let us play at a slower pace and that style fit us perfect,” the coach said.

Roy/Mosquero set out to take Zamora out of the game, but Magdalena had the right offense to deal with that.

“When you start playing in the playoffs, everybody is going to try and take away your right hand and make you fight with your left,” Mirabal said. “They lost some of our outside guys and Joe did a nice job of finding his guys.”

Zamora finished with 13 points and two assists, while Herschbach had 15 points, hitting 3-of-6 3-pointers.

“Ayden had a nice game hitting his shots and controlling the tempo,” Mirabal said. “And Jeff did a nice job around the basket. I think that was a good playoff for them playing with each other.”

Stuteville had 10 points and seven rebounds while Markland added five points, six rebounds and three assists.”

“We came out really strong on defense and got a lot of stops,” Herschbach said. “They were packing the inside to guard our bigs and that allowed me to get open shots.”

And this season, he was in the position to take advantage of those looks.

“I was in the gym pretty much every day getting up shots, trying to work on my shot just so I could be a better shooter,” he said.