ALAMOSA – The Alamosa High School boys basketball team had another slow start when it hosted Ignacio at the AHS gym on Friday.

The Mean Moose trailed by 16 points late in the first quarter. But this time, they rallied in the final three quarters and came back to defeat the Bobcats, 46-43.

“We just got off to a terrible start,” said Alamosa coach Caleb Cotton. “We knew we were the better team, and we had the opportunity to fight back. We need to start better and come out and come out better in these games.”

Sonny Flores put the Bobcats on the scoreboard first, followed by a 3-point basket by Stoney White Thunder. Josh Gonzalez scored the Mean Moose’s first two points, but Rance Rathjen made two free throws. Flores drained a three, Rathjen knocked down a jumper, and White Thunder made two more treys to give Ignacio an 18-2 lead.

Kingston Wilcox accounted for Alamosa’s next five points, including a 3-pointer, to cut the deficit to 18-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Rathjen scored the first points of the second quarter, but Wilcox hit another jumper, and Matthew Solis scored in the paint. Trace Crane made one out of two free throws, but Victor Zepeda made a trey to bring the Mean Moose within 21-14.

Wilcox scored again, and later split at the line. Rathjen made two free tosses to increase the Ignacio lead to 25-17 at halftime.

Solis opened the second half with a three, but Flores drove for a layup. Zepeda made another 3-pointer, but Rathjen scored for a 29-23 Bobcats’ lead.

Zepeda made his third three of the game, but Rathjen scored again. Gabe Mora made a trey to bring the Mean Moose within 31-29, and Jaidyn Burciaga also hit a three to give Alamosa its first lead at 32-31.

Solis made a layup to increase the lead to three, but Joseph Atencio made a 3-pointer to the score at 34-34 at the end of the third quarter.

Burciaga hit another three to again give the Mean Moose the lead. But Rathjen hit a jumper, and Atencio another three. Crane knocked down a jumper to give Ignacio a 41-37 lead with 5:05 left in the game.

Wilcox made another jumper, and Zepeda made two free throws to tie the score at 41-41. Wilcox scored again to put the Mean Moose back into the lead at 43-41 with 1:58 to play.

Burciaga made two free throws to push the lead to four. Crane made two free throws, but Wilcox split at the line for a 46-43 lead with three seconds remaining.

The Bobcats set up a possible game-tying play, but White Thunder’s long 3-point attempt was off-target.

Wilcox led Alamosa with 15 points, followed by Zepeda with 11.

Rathjen led the Bobcats with 16 points.

Lamar 56, Alamosa 29

The Mean Moose traveled to Lamar on Saturday, but were defeated by the Thunder, 56-29.

Alamosa led 9-6 after the first quarter, but Lamar took a 34-16 lead at halftime.

Statistics for the Mean Moose were unavailable.

What’s next

Alamosa (7-9, 2-3) played at Monte Vista on Tuesday. It will make a trip to Bayfield on Friday and return home to take on second-ranked Montezuma-Cortez on Saturday.

“Every game form here on out is super important to us,” Cotten said. “It won’t be easy going forward. We’re going to have to grind and play our game.”

Alamosa 46, Ignacio 43

Ignacio – Windy Boy 0 0-0 0, Flores 3 0-0 7, Crane 2 1-3 5, Rathjen 6 4-7 16, White Thunder 3 0-0 9, Mendoza 0 0-0 0, Atencio 2 0-0 6. Total 16 5-10 43.

3-point goals – White Thunder 3, Atencio 2, Flores 1. Total 6.

Alamosa – Zepeda 3 2-3 11, Burciaga 2 2-2 8, Solis 3 0-0 7, Arambula 0 0-0 0, Gonzalez 1 0-2 2, Wilcox 6 2-6 15, Mora 1 0-0 3, Gutierrez 0 0-0 0. Total 16 6-13 46.

3-point goals – Zepeda 3, Burciaga 2, Mora 1, Solis 1, Wilcox 1. Total 8.

Ignacio 18 7 9 9 – 43

Alamosa 7 10 17 12 – 46

Fouls – Ignacio 14. Alamosa 14. Technical foul – Alamosa bench.