ALBUQUERQUE – Thursday’s 1A/B North-South boys basketball game may have seemed like the typical all-star game – with lots of scoring and little defense. But it was defense that made the difference in the South’s 92-88 victory.

“Coach (Brad) Holland told us that if we wanted to win this game, we’d have to play some defense,” said Gateway Christian’s Mason Miller. “We did what he said and it was to the betterment of our team.”

The South needed to buckle down defensively in the second half after starting off strong. Cliff’s Luis Estevez opened with four of the South’s first six points of the game, and the South had a 6-0 lead three minutes into the game.

But the North came back to tie it at 8-all on a layup by Austin Vincent of Des Moines, and the North took what looked to be a commanding 39-17 lead with 5:50 left in the half.

The South went on a 10-0 run, however, to pull within three. From then on, any time the South threatened to take the lead, the North would come through with a clutch goal, and had an 8-point lead at the half.

“We had to start guarding them a little bit instead of just watching them shoot and playing the typical all-star game,” Holland said. “That’s a great group of boys, and I’d like to have them more than just three days.”

Holland – who coached Hondo’s Luis Montano, said the star guard didn’t have any playing time over the summer due to an ailing back, but was glad to see how well he took to the system in three short days of practice.

“He was very solid and knew our stuff,” Holland said. “He took care of the ball and got us in our sets. He did a great job.”

“It was fun playing with a new group of guys, and in practice they picked up what we were doing really quick,” said Montano, who scored seven points. “It felt good at the beginning until I got tied up with a jump ball. That’s when the back started to spasm again. But it still felt good to play again.”

The second half started out similar to the end of the first, with the North relying heavily on the play of Gallup Catholic’s Anthony Lopez, who poured in 26 points and led his team with 14 rebounds and three steals.

Things started to turn around for the South on a 10-2 run that ended with Miller’s jumper with 10:50 left in the second half, giving the South back the lead. The North was able to tie it at 67-all on a pair of Terrance Chatto free-throws, but never had the lead again.

The South got most of its scoring from Logan’s Rylan Calbert (22 points) and Estevez (17), but Capitan’s Strait Sedillo came up with some key rebounds to help secure the lead.

“You just have to want it and go get it,” Sedillo said of the effort.

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North-South 1A/B All-Star boys

at Albuquerque

South 92, North 88

South (92)

Travis Mayberry 4 3-8 11, Skylar McMath 1 2-3 4, Mason Miller 2 4-5 9, Tanner Sorrels 1 2-3 4, Strait Sedillo 3 0-0 6, Kyler King 3 1-2 7, Luis Montano 3 0-0 7, Rylan Calbert 5 8-10 22, Luis Estevez 7 3-4 17, Brad Neil 2 1-2 5. Totals 31 24-37 92.

North (88)

Austin Vincent 7 2-5 16, Jacob Romero 0 4-8 4, Emilio Cisneros 1 0-2 3, Aaron Martinez 1 0-0 2, Stetson Schmitz 1 1-4 3, Malcom King 2 2-2 6, Erik Cisneros 2 1-3 6, Carlos Herrrera 2 2-4 6, Leonard Arias 2 2-3 6, Terrance Chatto 3 2-2 10, Anthony Lopez 10 4-5 26. Totals 31 20-38 88.

Halftime score – North 47, South 39. Three-point goals – S 6 (Calbert 4, Montano, Miller). Fouled out – Maberry, Vincent, Arias, Chatto. Rebounds – South 53 (Estevez 10, Sorrels 7, Sedillo 6), North 46 (Lopez 14). Steals – South 4 (Calbert, King 2), North – 8 (Lopez 3). Blocks South – 2 (Sedillo 2), North 1 (Lopez). Total fouls – S 24, N 31. Turnovers – S 18, N – 13.