The Lobos’ win against Oakville at the state basketball championships last week marked the first state playoffs win in Lopez basketball history, said coach M.R. Buffum.
Although the Lobos didn’t place at state, they made their little island proud. It was a first for Lopez, and one last bittersweet tournament for a team that has played together since they were little kids.
“I’ve known them since they were babies,” Buffum said. “These kids have been incredible this whole time. The five seniors really led the team this year. (They) played together in third grade. I remember them telling me, ‘We’re going to go to state someday and we’re gonna get a trophy.’ Well, they went to state. They didn’t get a trophy, but they tried.”
The Lobo boys went to state two years ago, but didn’t win a game.
Buffum said the Lobos played spectacular defense throughout the tournament.
“Our defense was absolutely incredible. I have never seen us play defense like that; I was in awe. We stopped everybody from scoring; an average of 35 points is all we gave up.”
Unfortunately, their offense wasn’t as strong against the aggressive teams vying for the state title.
“Normally, we score pretty easily, but we just could not find the basket,” Buffum said. The Lobos sunk 43 out of 150 overall shots, and hit 14 out of 39 free throws during the tourney.
Round One: the Rosalia Spartans
True to their namesake, the Spartans were lean and mean.
“We played the number one team right out of the chute. They were very, very physical; they bumped us everywhere and we did not respond well,” Buffum said. The Lobos started out strong and gained a 7 to 0 lead, but Rosalia’s militant buffeting soon effected a disappointing loss. Buffum noted that the Lobos held Rosalia to 44 points, an accomplishment against such a strong team. And Rosalia’s top scoring player, who has averaged 18 points through the season, sunk only four points. The final score was 23 to 44.
Round Two: the Oakville Acorns
The Lobos took apart the Acorns like hungry squirrels.
“The second game we came alive,” Buffum said. “We won pretty easily.”
The Lobos were up by 18 at one point, burying the Acorns by 12 points at the end of the game, 62 to 50.
Against Oakville, “Mica (Arps) was the man,” Buffum said. “He had 15 points in the second half, and 14 rebounds.”
Round Three: The Pateros Billygoats
The Billygoats gruffly butted the Lobos right out of the competition, but only by the hair on their chinny-chin chins. Two points determined an incredibly close game.
“No one ever led by more than three or four points,” Buffum said. “(The Billygoats) were ahead by three at half, ahead by three at 3rd quarter, then Alex (Buffum) made a three-pointer to tie it at the end of 3rd quarter.”
Alex sunk another three-pointer with 15 seconds left on the clock, giving Lopez one last chance to tie up the game and send it into overtime. The Lobos stole an inbounds pass and set up a play, putting up their last-ditch effort as the buzzer sounded. But the shot missed its mark, and the Lobos headed for the locker room with heavy hearts. Alex scored 11 points and Arps put in 9; the final score was 31 to 33.
It’s been a memorable year for coach Buffum and the Lopez basketball boys.
“They worked really hard and cared about each other so much, inside or outside basketball; they were always there for each other,” said MR. “They all hang out together and love each other; they’re probably the most together bunch I’ve ever seen. I’m gonna miss ‘em when they’re gone.”
Five of the Lobos players will be back on the court next season.
