ALAMOSA – The Alamosa High School boys basketball team faced another dcouble-digit deficit when it hosted Monte Vista Tuesday at the AHS gym.

The Mean Moose trailed by 11 points early in the third quarter, but came back to defeat the Pirates, 55-52.

“We just did the things it takes to win,” said Alamosa coach Caleb Cotten. “We made some shots and they got it going. It was kind of a crazy game, but the guys stepped up in different situations and did what it took.”

Kelby Mondragon put Monte Vista on the board first, but Kingston Wilcox tied the score. Azariah Hurtado made one of two free throws, but Wilcox scored again to give the Mean Moose their first lead.

Mondragon made a 3-point basket to give the lead back to the Pirates. Matthew Solis’ jumper tied the score. Hurtado also drained a three for a 9-6 Monte Vista lead.

Wilcox scored again, but Hurtado made a pair from the line. Domyon Naranjo scored in the paint, but Wilcox scored again to cut the Pirates’ lead to 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Domyon Naranjo began the second quarter with a trey, and Landon Sanchez made one of two free throws. Mondragon made another three, and Hurtado a layup to give Monte Vista its largest lead at 22-10.

Jaidyn Burciaga and Victor Zepeda both scored, and Burciaga split at the line to cut the deficit to 22-15. Nehemias Sandoval scored for the Pirates, but Burciaga made two free tosses to bring the Mean Moose within 24-17 at the intermission.

Jeremiah McComas and Hurtado both scored to give the Pirates a 28-17 lead with 6:53 left in the third quarter.

Wilcox got the Alamosa comeback going with a layup and Zepdda made a three. JohnJake Naranjo scored for Monte Vista, but Zepeda made a jumper and two free throws, and Josh Gonzalez made a layup to reduce the Pirates’ lead to 30-28.

Hurtado split at the line, but Gabe Mora and Zepeda both made threes to give the Mean Moose a 34-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Zepeda opened the fourth quarter with a jumper, but Connor Mellott scored in the paint. JohnJake Naranjo made two free throws, but Burciaga split at the line, and Zepeda made another jumper for a 39-35 lead.

Manny Jiron scored for Monte Vista, but Zepeda drove for a layup. Hurtado made a pair of charity tosses, and Jiron scored again to tie the score at 41-41.

Zepeda made another layup and added a free throw. However, Hurtado made two more free throws, and Jiron another layup to give the Pirates a 45-44 lead.

Zepeda made two more free throws, but Jiron split at the line. Burciaga then buried a trey for a 49-46 lead.

Domyon Naranjo knocked down a jumper, but Zepeda tallied two more free throws. Mondragon made two from the line, but Burciaga and Zepeda both made a pair from the line for a 55-50 lead.

Hurtado hit a jumper in the final seconds to complete the scoring.

Alamosa had three players score in double figures and was led by Zepeda with 27 points. He scored 25 of his points in the second quarter, and also made nine out of nine free throws.

Burciaga scored 13 points and Wilcox 10.

Hurtado led Monte Vista with 17 points, followed by Mondragon with 10.

Alamosa (8-12, 3-6) played at Pagosa Springs on Friday. It will play two more road games – at Ignacio on Feb. 20 and at Centauri on Feb. 27.

“We have a couple of big ones down the road,” Cotten said. “We’re on the outside of the playoffs looking in, so we have to win out to give ourselves a chance. There’s some huge games coming up.”

Monte Vista (10-8, 3-5) played at Bayfield on Friday. It will play at Centauri today with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m.

Alamosa 55, Monte Vista 52

Monte Vista – McComas 1 0-2 2, Hurtado 4 8-10 17, Mondragon 3 2-2 10, Jiron 3 1-4 7, Sandoval 1 0-0 2, D. Naranjo 3 0-0 7, Mellott 1 0-2 2, J. Naranjo 1 2-2 4, Sanchez 0 1-2 1. Total 17 14-24 52.

3-point goals – Mondragon 2, Hurtado 1, D. Naranjo 1. Total 4.

Alamosa – Zepeda 8 9-9 27, Burciaga 2 6-8 13, Arambula 0 0-0 0, Wilcox 5 0-0 10, Gonzalez 1 0-2 2, Solis 1 0-0 2, Mora 1 0-0 3, Gutierrez 0 0-0 0. Total 18-15-19 55.

3-point goals – Zepeda 2, Burciaga 1, Mora 1. Total 4.

Monte Vista 13 11 7 21 – 52

Alamosa 10 7 17 21 – 55

Fouls – Monte Vista 21, Alamosa 17. Fouled out – Wilcox.