ALBUQUERQUE — Greg Slover was in the present Friday night.
The past, however, kept creeping back into the moment.
Coach, talk about climb. Two years ago, losing in the first round and then last year, losing in the semifinals, and now, here you are with the blue trophy.
Coach, you got a measure of revenge for what Pecos did to you two years ago.
Slover, the girls basketball head coach at Tatum, clearly wanted to talk about winning the Class 2A title, which the Coyotes did with a 57-53 win over Pecos on Friday in The Pit.
The past?
"Why do we keep talking about the past?" Slover said with a sly grin.
The past, though, makes the present all that much more special. Tatum was unceremoniously dumped by Pecos in the opening round of the 2023 tournament when it was the fifth seed.
Last March, the Coyotes were the 2-seed and seemed to have the clear path to the championship game when Peñasco knocked off Pecos in the quarterfinals, only to lose to the eventual state champion in double overtime.
As the top seed this year, Tatum (27-5) rode an 11-game winning streak coming into its matchup with the Panthers, having won by an average margin of 32.6 points during that stretch.
But none of that mattered when Pecos (26-7) punched the Coyotes in the mouth and built a lead as large as 24-16 when Abrielle Zamora scored in transition with 4:06 left in the first half. Pecos, which had fallen in the quarterfinals the previous two seasons, was looking to win its third state title in the past six seasons, and its game plan was effective to that point.
Tatum's duo of Avery Henard and Louann Villaseñor had combined for just four points, the team shot just 5-for-21 by that point and committed 10 turnovers.
"I felt like we were getting the turnovers we wanted," Pecos head coach Lawrence Ragland said. "I didn't want to pull back, even though we were in foul trouble."
Ah, foul trouble.
It was the exposed thread that eventual unwove Pecos' championship sweater. Four starters had at least two, with Angel Montoya collecting three.
Tatum tugged at that weak point, getting to the free-throw line 14 times in each half. That helped the Coyotes cut the lead to 25-23 at the half. Then, the rebounding came together, as they outrebounded the Panthers 29-12 in the second half.
Those second and third chances helped bring Henard and Villaseñor alive, as they each recorded double-doubles. Henard had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Villaseñor had 16 and 11.
"Those are big," Slover said. "We talked about that [at halftime]. We got some people who can go to the offensive board. Not gigantic, but they will keep coming at you."
Even though Tatum shot just 5-for-19 from the field in the third quarter, their five offensive rebounds and a defense that held Pecos to just 3-for-11 shooting turned the tide in its favor.
When Sydni Rice scored a layup off a Villarseñor offensive board, the Coyotes enjoyed a 37-31 lead.
Pecos' only saving grace was senior wing Natailia Stout. She only had four points at the half but started to warm up at the end of the third when a corner 3-pointer that halved the margin to 37-34 heading into the final 8 minutes of the season.
Stout scored 19 of her team's final 28 points, including 13 in the final quarter to give her team a chance. She finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six steals in her final prep game.
"We know it's a game of runs," Stout said. "Our team was kinda down, and I figured I had to take it into my own hands and get the energy going again and hope for the best."
When Tatum upped the lead to 45-37 on Aubree Young's drive in the paint with 5:39 left, Stouts scored five of her team's next six points. Her 23-foot 3 from the right win brought Pecos within 47-43 with 3:59 to go.
Opportunity arose when Stout collected a steal on the Tatum side and hit a 3 in transition with 1:34 remaining to bring the margin to within 53-50. Tatum committed its 29th turnover, a 5-second inbound violation, and Sanchez was fouled with 1:13 to go.
With a chance to cut the lead even further, Sanchez missed both free throws.
Tatum hits its last four free throws, and not even a Stout 3 with 35 seconds left that cut the lead to 55-53 was enough.
But it was just barely enough for Slover and the Coyotes, who never had a moment to relax until the final buzzer.
"Well, I'm sweating like I can't believe right now," Slover said. "I still hadn't quit that. It got a little nerve wracking when they were rattling 3s. But I knew we'd be coming right back at them, too."
Spoken like a man living in the present. He preferred to let everybody else talk about that past.
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