By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
It was the boys turn to take the court Saturday, March 9th in all classes of New Mexico First Round of 16. Locally, #13 seed Cimarron Rams traveled to #4 seed Logan Longhorns, losing 79-45 and #3 seed Maxwell hosted the #14 seed Evangel Christian Academy Eagles in Maxwell.
Although the Bears won pulling away 77-44, they got off to a slow start in a fast-paced game trying to adjust to the absence of regular starter Ben Goebel. They scored only 11 while the Eagles topped the hosts at the end of the first quarter leading by one, 12-11. The second quarter began the offensive turnaround as Kolten Riggs dropped in a couple of 3-pointers to spark the fire and as the second quarter progressed, that spark roared to a big fire with Maxwell outscoring the Eagles 17-5. Strong rebounding by both Kayden and Kolten Riggs and some big rejections of Eagles attempted shots by Kayden, helped Maxwell out of the doldrums and to an 11 point halftime lead.
As the second half of action opened up, Maxwell once again dominated the boards and started dropping in the shots. Kolten Riggs dropped in two more of his six 3-pointers as the Bears sailed through another big quarter going outscoring Evangel 24 to 8. Fourth quarter action saw the Bears put in 25 points, Kaden Riggs getting 12 of the total himself and his intimidating presence inside saw several more blocked shots or shot-altering efforts and when the final buzzer sounded Maxwell defeated Evangel Christian by 37 points.
Maxwell will now advance to the quarter final round of play in Bernalillo on Wednesday, March 13th at 9:45 in the morning against #6 seed Tatum. The game will be broadcast on KRTN.
ECA 12 5 8 15 40
Maxwell 11 17 24 25 77
Evangel Christian High Point
Isaiah Zunic 23 2 of 3 free throws 5 3-pointers
Edward Khader III 11
Free throws 2 of 3 attempts
Maxwell
Kolten Riggs 32 2 of 2 free throws ( 6 3-pointers)
Kaden Riggs 21 5 of 8 free throws
Caden Floyd 11
Wes Jeffrey 6
Tristan Pierce 4
Jeremy Archuleta 3
Free throws 7 of 10 attempts
