No. 1 Magdalena set up a dream scenario after the Steers (30-1) survived a furious fourth-quarter rally at Bernalillo High School on Thursday by No. 5 Logan (25-6) to win 58-54 and advance to Saturday’s Nusenda Class A boys state tournament championship at The Pit.

The Steers are returning to the state title game for the 5th straight year and will have revenge on their minds as they battle defending state champion Fort Sumner/House (25-5) after dropping last year’s championship 45-43. The Foxes were 66-63 winners over Cimarron on the opposite side of the bracket.

It wasn’t as easy as it sounds because Logan refused to go quietly and surprisingly gained momentum when it lost starter and top scorer Hayden Bruhn.

“They get more athletic when that kid goes out, and then they have one of those deals where it’s all or nothing. I mean, they’ve got six seniors on that team. If you thought they’re going to go home easy, you’re crazy,” Magdalena coach Jory Mirabal said. “They’re going to come at us. They have got good kids. Their point guard number five is Brock Burns; I’ve known him since he was a little kid. He’s a great kid. He’s going to bring them back. We make free throws in the fourth quarter and we’re not even having this type of conversation.

The Steers didn’t make a single field goal in the fourth quarter, mainly because Logan’s players were draped all over Madalena shooters and getting called for fouls. The Steers hit just 9 of 19 at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, and it made for a nail-biting situation as Logan crept closer.

It wasn’t supposed to be so hard.

With 2:49 remaining in the third quarter, the Steers looked like they were on easy street with a 20-point lead before the Longhorns began to rally and find rebounds that gave them second chances. While they shot 33 percent from the field, the Longhorns made up for it by jacking up 57 shots to Magdalena’s 37.

It was an off-balance night for Magdalena’s shooting. The Steers shot 50 percent in the first half and then slid to 27 percent in the second half, which helped Logan slowly climb back into the game.

“I will attribute it (Logan’s rally) to several things. One is that this group is not that experienced. Losing the group that we had last year and then throwing these guys in these types of games, we’re getting this experience on the fly. Matt (Parker). Lanbrent (Ganadonegro) and Ayden (Herschbach) didn’t have big roles on this team last year. You put them in these situations, and it’s all new to them,” Mirabal said. “You can’t simulate this kind of a game in practice. You have to be in these types of games to get that experience. The only way you can be on these types of games is to get here and be in these games.”

One of Magdalena’s biggest assets in the 2024 state tournament has been its bench, and it was no different against Logan. Jacob Markland was second in scoring with 14 points. Coming into the game in the second quarter, he sank a trio of three-pointers and provided half of the Steers’ 18 points.

“Jacob comes in, and you can’t ask for more from him or Krae (Stephens). Jacob comes in and does Jacob-things because that kid can hit shots, and he did for us tonight. Then my utility guy Krae comes in there and plays guard post, gets rebounds, does all the dirty work, and hits the free throws that put us in a comfortable lead,” Mirabal said.

It was Stephens who came through with a free throw in clutch time with the Steers on top by three and less than five seconds to play. The four-point cushion sent the Magdalena fans into a frenzy as they realized the roller-coaster ride was final over.

The lead was anything but comfortable in the first half, where Magdalena ran out to an 8-1 lead but was only in the top 15-13 heading into the second quarter.

The game boiled down to the Steers relying on each other and individual players taking charge when needed. Junior post Jeffery Stuteville took a beating under the basket as he drew double coverage every time he got the ball.

In the third quarter, Joseph Zamora rolled out his long game. He scored 11 of the Steers’ 16 points in the frame and nailed three long-range bombs.

The Steers have a day off from tournament play on Friday, and Mirabal plans to hold a walkthrough practice to work out a few kinks.

“We’re going to go find a playground somewhere and shoot free throws,” Mirabal said, “I have a few friends here in town that get us in gyms. We’ll practice tomorrow, have a walkthrough, and shoot around; it’s our typical routine. Sometimes, we get together and do the same thing on Saturday, but we’ll see how we feel. We’ve been a little bit banged up. We’ll try to get healthy and prepare for a tough matchup on Saturday.”

Is this a dream scenario matchup with Fort Sumner/House?

“Oh yeah, one hundred percent. I told the guys there’s nothing like being able to play in The Pit. If you grew up in New Mexico, you want to have a chance to get in there and have that feeling of going up and down that ramp and in that environment,” Mirabal said. “About half of my team hasn’t had that experience. I’m proud of the boys putting in the work to give the team a chance to do that.”

Saturday’s championship game tips off at 6 p.m. against Fort Sumner at The Pit.

Scoring – Lanbrent Ganadonegro 9, Ayden Herschbach 5, Javen Tafoya, Jeff Stuteville 4, Krae Stephens 3, Shane Montoya, Joseph Zamora 18, Zeb Apachito, Jacob Markland 14, Ky Stephens, Matthew Parker 5.

 

Russell Huffman | Assistant Editor