The best argument for a high school shot clock is ...

The Gadsden boys basketball team.

No contest.

The Panthers provided another example on Thursday night in the District 3-5A Tournament. Gadsden knocked off Alamogordo 16-10.

That's no typo (though I'll probably have plenty). Sixteen to 10!

Before I explain, here are some details, courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News reporter Felix Chavez.

• Gadsden outscored Alamogordo 5-0 in the second half.
• Daniel Rico (Gadsden) and Tremaine McClellan (Alamogordo) each led their teams, scoring six points.
• Alamogordo did not shoot a free throw.

These scorebook anomalies are made possible by Gadsden's stall tactic. Thursday's score, which looked like something you'd see in a third-grade girls game, was a perfect storm. Under legendary coach Mike Harper -- he won his 700th game this season -- the Panthers have been known to turn offense into a game of keep away in Nikes. Alamogordo refused to come out of its zone defense, which let the Gadsden point guard hold the ball for most of the second half.

This strategy might not be popular, but it requires plenty of discipline and conditioning. When I worked in Las Cruces, I saw plenty of Gadsden games stay in the 30s. Even against a man-t0-man defense the Panthers often milk more than a minute off the clock per possession. Would-be defenders get impatient or tired or bored and frequently surrender backdoor layups.

Slow-down offense also requires hard-nosed defense. Rallying from even a six-point deficit becomes quite a chore when it takes 1:24 to score a single basket. You simply can not get behind and win with this offense.

While it has its redeeming qualities this offense frustrates me, even when coaches use it on a limited basis at the end of halves and games. Running is inherent to basketball. This offense robs the game of part of its soul.

Opposing fans hate it. Coaches hate to plan for it -- Tuesday's score will make coaches all over cross their fingers, hoping not to draw Gadsden at state.

It's also unfair to defenses. If you can stop a team from shooting for more than a minute, you should get the ball back.

However, I'm not going to say that this isn't real basketball. It drives me crazy when old-school, pass-fearing football coaches say that about spread offenses, so I won't go there. Stall offense has a place.

It just needs to be tempered.

A shot clock would do that, even one that lasts as long as 60 seconds. The NBA has it. College has it. Even some high schools do. It's time for New Mexico to join that list.

Lobos give one away to No. 25 BYU

Wearing a backwards cap and a smile, Trent Plaisted strolled up a ramp outside The Pit in a giving mood.

A Lobos fan stopped him as he headed for the BYU team bus. The fan leaned in to pat the Cougars 6-foot-11 center on the back; he had a request.

"Practice jersey?" Plaisted replied. "I'll give you one of mine if you want."

Maybe charity comes easier after a win, especially when you have a night like Plaisted did Tuesday. He scored a team-high 23 points and hit the game-winning free throw with 5.7 seconds to play in overtime as the hated, 25th-ranked Cougars edged the Lobos, 70-69, in front of a wired crowd of 18,018, the first sellout in two years.

Moments earlier Lobos guard Dairese Gary trudged up that same ramp looking as though he needed a gift. Maybe a hug. Maybe a good joke. Anything to lift the disappointment that engulfed him and the rest of the UNM team after it collectively fumbled what would have been the biggest win in recent memory.

"We had it," Gary said. "It was right there in our hands. They just got ranked. For us to beat a top 25 team, that would have been big. To let it slip away like that it just hurt."

Especially when everything looked so promising.

With 6:24 to play in regulation, Roman Martinez converted an old fashioned three-point play, inciting the raucous Lobos crowd and giving UNM an eight point lead.

It felt like a win.

It felt like The Pit was about to swallow another ranked team.

It felt like maybe the Lobos could play themselves into the NCAA Tournament this year. Critics had said the one thing UNM's resume lacked was a big win (15 of their wins game at the expense of teams with an RPI of 152 or lower). Well, this certainly felt big.

But the feeling wouldn't last.

Suddenly BYU, which had been cold much of the game, started hitting shots. The Cougars started to draw fouls. They outscored UNM 13-5 to finish the game tied. On to overtime.

Again the Lobos mounted a late lead. Gary hit two free throws with 1:05 to play, ratcheting his team's advantage to three, 69-66.

And again BYU dismantled it.

The Cougars hit four free throws on consecutive possessions in the final minute, capped by Plaisted's pair that gave BYU a lead.

Still, 5.4 seconds remained for the Lobos to pull out the win. After a BYU timeout, Jamaal Smith, probably the fastest player on the court at the time, raced to score. He fired an off-balance jumper from about 10 feet from the basket and missed.

The clock appeared to expire as players scrambled for the ball. But officials watched a replay of the sequence and determined the ball went off a BYU player with one-tenth of a second on the clock.

Gary lobbed the ball cleanly into Giddens, but his quick shot bounced, harmlessly, off the back of the rim.

"Good pass," Giddens said. "Good look. Just didn't fall."

That was the theme of the night for UNM.

Four times in their freshly broken six-game winning streak the Lobos shot at least 52 percent from the field. Tuesday UNM hit only 36.6 percent, including an uncharacteristic 3-of-20 performance from the 3-point line. Chad Toppert went 0-fer from long range for the first time since November, a span of 21 games.

It might have been an off night, but BYU's defense clearly bothers UNM. The Lobos two worst shooting nights in Mountain West Conference play came against the Cougars.

"It's very frustrating," said Giddens, who finished with 30 points. "We really fought for this game; we really needed to win. But we made some mistakes at the end, missed some free throws and lost the ball game."

Giddens turned in another one of the all-around performances that have been his signature in a season that should end with him being named the MWC Player of the Year. He added seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks. This despite dealing with a strained hip flexor for the entire second half.

As painful as the loss was -- a couple Lobos had tears in their eyes as they went into the locker room -- there were some pieces of encouragement.

"We've gotten better," said UNM coach Steve Alford, whose team fell by 17 when it play BYU in Provo, Utah. "We've improved and that's what I told them in the locker room. Now the key is take a couple days away from it. ... This has been a tough stretch for us. ... This is going to hurt for a while, because they worked awfully hard to get to this point."

For the Cougars it could be a win that carries them into the MWC Tournament.

Immediately after the game Cougars coach Dave Rose unfolded his arms and sternly shook hands with Alford. As he ventured into the tunnel Rose's demeanor changed considerably. He sprinted up the ramp shouting, a fist aloft above his head.

"Very rarely will you see our coach do anything like that," Plaisted said. "But when he gets excited it's so fun to be around. ... It's an awesome, awesome feeling."

Enough to make you want to give a rival's fan the shirt off your back -- or at least the one out of your duffel bag.

*****

Numbers of note

1: Losses by the Lobos when Jonathan Wills starts. UNM had won all 12 games he started before Tuesday.

17: Games won at The Pit by BYU, more than any other visiting team.

19: The shooting percentage, from 3-point range, that would have won the game for UNM. That's less than half the Lobos nation-leading average coming in (43.7). It would require UNM to make one more three than it did.

46.1: Percentage of UNM's made field goals attributed to Giddens. He seemed to be the team's lone consistent force on offense.

*****
Quote of note

"I guess I'm going to start putting foam on the end of my shoes because the stomping is too loud."

--- Lobos coach Steve Alford trying to explain the technical foul he received in the first half.

*****
Next

UNM (22-7, 9-5) hosts UNLV (21-6, 10-3) on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

This way to the Big Dance

While researching the New Mexico men's basketball team's NCAA Tournament credentials something Jay Bilas said caught my ear.

"The key is who can you beat," said Bilas, the ESPN hoops analyst, during tonight's Marquette-Villanova game.

Then Bilas asked the question that the Lobos will have to answer if they are to be invited to the Big Dance: "Have you proven that you can beat the good teams that you are going to see in the NCAA Tournament?"

The response for UNM, at this point, is no.

But Steve Alford's team seems to be surging in that direction. The Lobos have won six straight, including two historic, back-to-back wins at Air Force (first time since 2001) and Utah (first time since 1989).

The season's stretch run will tell much about UNM's chances.

Obviously a Mountain West Conference tournament title will get the Lobos in. Let's look at what they'd have to do to receive an at-large bid from the selection committee.

This has been discussed a lot locally -- by newspaper columnists, talk radio hosts and message board maniacs. Everybody seems to have a scenario in which the Lobos can get invited to the NCAA Tournament even if they lose in the conference semifinals.

No way.

So, then, I guess the first facet of my scenario is clear.

The Lobos must advance to the finals of the MWC Tournament. UNM's resume is devoid of quality wins, at least those that sparkle enough to impress the committee. Playing in the conference title game likely will get the Lobos three games each against MWC's top shelf: BYU and UNLV. Three shots at those two teams would give the Lobos a better chance of achieving the next aspect of my scenario ...

The Lobos must take two of three from BYU or UNLV: UNM already has been blown out by both teams. That hurts. Erasing this blemish begins Tuesday night when the Lobos face BYU at The Pit, it's the first of consecutive home games against the conference's targeted teams. Beating one of these teams twice during the next few weeks should stand out enough to get the Lobos dancing -- even if UNM falls to the other in the MWC title game.

See, it's simple.

Without these two steps, the Lobos are a lock for the NIT.

That's evident in their resume ...

The Good

• RPI. According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi the Lobos rank 44th, placing them third in the MWC behind BYU (27) and UNLV (31)
• Record. No team in the conference has more wins than UNM (22-6)
• MWC strength. Lunardi also ranks the Mountain West as ninth nationally.

The Bad

• No big wins. The Lobos victim with the highest RPI is Texas Tech (53), but the Red Raiders won't get an at-large bid
• Weak schedule. Of 341 Division I teams, the Lobos schedule strength is 167th. In non-conference games its 258th. That's what Presbyterian (327), Loyola Marymount (297) and Eastern Washington (287) gets you.
• Fifteen of the Lobos 22 wins came against teams ranked 151st or lower. UNM is 0-3 versus the teams with a top 50 RPI. UNM also lost to TCU (195).

*****

At least one voter for the Associated Press top 25 poll thinks the Lobos are the MWC's best team. Bill Riley, who works for KALL-AM radio in Salt Lake City, gave UNM its lone vote in this week's poll. He didn't vote for any other MWC teams.

Swimming and wrestling champs crowned ... You'll never guess who

And now the results from the most predictable championship weekend in all of New Mexico high school sports.

Wrestling

Rio Rancho (Class 5A), Belen (4A) and Robertson (1A-3A) all won team titles at the Santa Ana Star Center.

Again.

The Rams have won seven of eight. The Eagles earned their fifth-staight championship. The Cardinals have won eight of 11.

Impressive? Of course. However this dominance, across all classes, saps much of the drama and buzz from the team competition.

On an individual level there is plenty to hook casual fans. Upsets can and do happen -- in the 125-pound class No. 1 ranked Seth Chavez, from Albuquerque High, lost to No. 2 Louis Trujillo of Rio Rancho. But, at the group level, there's not much reason to watch the scoreboard.

Career achievements in wrestling always shine brighter. Max Ortega of Rio Rancho and Robertson's Jake Martinez each won their fourth state title Saturday. Only ten other wrestlers have ever done that.

Ortega should win his fifth next season. If -- I should probably say when -- he does, Ortega will be the second wrestler in history with five state titles. The other was Michael Scott Owen, who squeegeed the mats with his opponents from 1994-98.

For the complete results, click here.

Swimming

On the surface the La Cueva girls team's state title looks like a twist, a departure from the usual.

It's not.

Albuquerque Academy might have dominated the pool recently, winning three straight crowns before this season. But in the past 15 years two teams have dominated girls swimming: Academy and -- you guessed it -- La Cueva. The Bears and Chargers have zipped their way to 14 titles in that time.

The boys side was no different. Academy won its third straight state title and eighth in 10 years. The Chargers accumulated nearly twice as many points (406) as second place Sandia Prep (206).

Again this is impressive, but it's not where the excitement comes.

Many of the individual races are riveting. Even with a heavy favorite in the water drama exists, because of history. In swimming, state records can only be set at the state meet, so it's the only chance for the elite to prove themselves against all-time greats. This can't be replicated in basketball, football or baseball.

Saturday featured two record-setting performances.

• Academy's 200 meter medley relay -- Preston Feinberg, Elliot Feng, Marcus Guttman, Kelani Kaula -- broke Eldorado's 15-year-old record. Sandia Prep's relay team also broke the record, but finished behind the Chargers.

• Sandia Prep's Kate Nelson set the 100 breaststroke record, bettering a time swam by Hobbs' Kannon Betzen in 2006.

Last, but not least, Manzano's Marissa Campbell won the fifth state title of her career. The senior took the two freestyle sprints, the 50 and 100.

For the complete results, click here.

Continuation and expansion ... About this blog

This is the first post, but this isn't exactly a new blog.

I started it when I was a sportswriter at the defunct-as-of-today Albuquerque Tribune.

Eighteen months and 246 posts later it moves here, to Blogspot.com. I changed the name and the scope. Rather than focusing solely on New Mexico high school sports, I will write about all sports in the state.

I've worked as a sports journalist in this state since 2000, starting at the Round Up (New Mexico State's student newspaper) then moving to the Las Cruces Sun-News and finally The Tribune. For the past couple months and into the indefinite future, I write freelance articles on UNM men's basketball that appear on national Web sites.

In the coming weeks I'll have game stories, columns and tidbits on the state basketball tournament and Lobos hoops among other things.

Here's a link to my Tribune blog.