ALAMOSA – The Alamosa High School boys basketball team had strong second-half performances in its games at the Erik Melgoza Shootout as the Mean Moose scored wins over Lake County and Buena Vista this past weekend at the AHS gym.

“We talked about winning the third quarter and they just went out there and did it,” said Alamosa coach Caleb Cotton. “They got to the paint, started making good choices and did well. I’m super proud of them.”

Del Norte also faced both teams but lost close games.

Alamosa 64, Lake County 58

The Mean Moose won a high-scoring game with Lake County in their first game of the tournament on Friday.

Both teams started red-hot with Alamosa leading 19-15 at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers closed the deficit to 34-31 at halftime.

Alamosa started to pull away in the third quarter as it had a 58-47 lead at the end of the period. It led by as much as 62-49 in the fourth. Lake County, however, made a late charge but could only get as close as the final margin.

The Mean Moose had three players score in double figures. Victor Zepeda led with 26 points, followed by Jaidyn Burciaga with 17 and Matthew Solis with 11.

Devyn Sterkel was Lake County’s leading scorer with 16 points.

Alamosa 64, Lake County 58

Lake County – Mims 1 4-4 6, Tarango 2 1-2 6, Sterka 6 0-0 16, Trujillo 4 0-2 8, Peters 4 1-4 9, Medina 2 0-0 6, Cairns 1 0-0 2, Mudge 1 3-5 5, Lopez 0 0-0 0, Galarza 0 0-0 0. Total 21 9-17 58.

3-point goals – Sterka 4, Medina 2, Tarango 1. Total 6.

Alamosa – Zepeda 11 1-2 26, Burciaga 5 4-7 17, Solis 3 4-5 11, Arambula 2 0-0 5, Gonzalez 2 0-0 4, Wilcox 0 0-0 0, Mora 0 1-2 1, Gutierrez 0 0-0 0. Total 23 10-16 64.

3-point goals – Burciaga 3, Zepeda 3, Arambula 1, Solis 1. Total 8.

Lake County 15 16 16 11 – 58

Alamosa 19 15 21 6 – 64

Fouls – Lake County 14, Alamosa 19. Fouled out – Arambula.

Alamosa 53, Buena Vista 44

The Mean Moose wrapped up the tournament with a 53-44 comeback win over Buena Vista on Saturday.

The Demons started off hot as they took a 16-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Mean Moose narrowed the deficit to 25-16 at halftime. They closed to within 36-28 after the third quarter.

Zepeda and Solis both made 3-pointers, and Josh Gonzalez a layup to tie the score at 36-36 early in the fourth. Buena Vista pushed the lead back to four points, but Zepeda made another three. The Demons got the lead back to three points. Burciaga then made a three, was fouled, and made the free throw to give the Mean Moose their first lead of the game at 43-42.

Alamosa then made eight out eight free throw attempts, with Zepeda making six of them, to put the game on ice.

Zepeda again led the Mean Moose in scoring with 20 points – all in the second half. Burciaga was next with 16.

Landon Pace led the Demons with 17 points, followed by Joe Bearss with 12.

Alamosa 53, Buena Vista 44

Buena Vista – Reid 2 0-0 4, Bearss 4 3-6 12, Scott 0 0-0 0, Pace 7 0-0 17, Pierce 2 0-0 4, O’Reilly 3 1-1 7, DeWalt 0 0-0 0, Gaston 0 0-0 0, Wingo 0 0-2 0, Rinebarger 0 0-0 0, Steed. Total 0 0-0 0. Total 18 4-9 44.

3-point goals – Pace 3, Bearss 1. Total 4.

Alamosa – Zepeda 3 9-10 20, Burciaga 5 1-3 16, Solis 1 0-0 3, Arambula 0 0-0 0, Gonzalez 2 0-0 4, Wilcox 2 2-2 6, Mora 2 0-2 4, Gutierrez 0 0-0 0. Total 15 12-17 53.

3-point goals – Burciaga 5, Zepeda 2, Solis 1. Total 8.

Buena Vista 16 9 11 8 – 44

Alamosa 3 13 12 25 – 53

Fouls – Buena Vista 18, Alamosa 15. Fouled out – Pace.

Buena Vista 42, Del Norte 39

Del Norte lost to Buena Vista 42-39 on Friday.

The Demons took off to the early lead as they led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers started to chip at the lead in the second quarter, closing to within 19-16. But the Demons stretched the lead to 23-17 at halftime.

Buena Vista increased the lead to 29-19 in the third quarter, but the Tigers scored three points in the final minute of the period to close within 29-22.

Damien Vigil made two 3-pointers to bring the Tigers within 34-29 in the fourth. Calvin Quintana helped Del Norte narrow the deficit to 38-35, and Damien Vigil’s layup narrowed the lead to 38-37 with 1:53 left in the game. However, the Demons scored four points to take a 42-39 win.

Quintana and Damien Vigil both scored eight points to lead Del Norte. Bearss was Buena Vista’s top scorer with 11 points.

Buena Vista 42, Del Norte 39

Del Norte – J. Vigil 1 1-2 4, Wolfe 2 1-2 6, Quintana 4 0-0 8, Bailey 0 3-4 3, D. Vigil 3 0-0 8, Stephens 1 0-0 3, Velasquez 1 1-1 4, Kreutzer 0 1-2 1, Roepke 0 0-0 0, Coulson 1 0-0 2. Total 13 7-11 39.

3-point goals – D. Vigil 2, Stephens 1, Velasquez 1, J. Vigil 1, Wolfe 1. Total 6.

Buena Vista – Reid 2 2-2 6, Bearss 2 7-10 11, Pace 1 0-0 3, Pierce 4 0-0 8, Wingo 3 0-0 7, O’Reilly 0 3-6, Scott 2 0-0 4, DeWalt 1 0-0 2. Total 15 12-18 42.

3-point goals – Pace 1, Wingo 1. Total 2

Del Norte 8 9 5 17 – 39

Buena Vista 13 10 6 15 – 42

Fouls – Del Norte 19, Buena Vista 10. Technical foul – Wingo.

Lake County 53, Del Norte 47

The Tigers lost to Lake County 55-47 in overtime on Saturday.

Both teams started slow with Del Norte leading 5-4 after the first quarter. The Tigers increased the lead to 23-18 at halftime and to 39-32 after the third quarter.

The Panthers started their comeback in the fourth by outscoring the Tigers 13-6 to tie the score at 45-45 at the end of regulation. Lake County scored eight points in the extra session and held Del Norte to just two.

Noah Bailey was Del Norte’s top scorer with 21 points, followed by Quintana with 10.

Tyler Mims led Lake County with 18 points, followed by Abdiel Tarango with 13, and Jaren Peters with 12.

Lake County 53, Del Norte 47

Del Norte – J. Vigil 2 1-2 5, Wolfe 2 0-2 6, Quintana 4 2-2 10, Bailey 9 2-4 21, D. Vigil 1 1-1 3, Stephens 0 0-0 0, Velasquez 0 0-0 0, Kreutzer 0 0-0 0, Coulson 1 0-0 2. Total 18 6-11 47.

3-point goals – Wolfe 2, Bailey 1. Total 3.

Lake County – Mims 6 2-4 18, Tarango 4 1-4 13, Medina 0 0-0 0, Trujillo 2 0-0 5, Peters 5 2-2 12, Sterkel 0 0-0 0, Cairns 0 0-0 0, Lopez 0 0-0 0, Galarza 1 0-0 2. Total 19 6-12 53.

3-point goals – Tarango 4, Mims 2, Trujillo 1. Total 7.

Del Norte 10 13 16 6 2 – 47

Lake County 11 7 14 13 8 – 53

Fouls – Del Norte 20, Lake County 11. Fouled out – Bailey, D. Vigil.

What’s next

Alamosa (2-0) will play in the University Invitational in Greeley this coming weekend. It will first play Elizabeth at 5 p.m. Thursday at Frontier Academy.

“There’s some good teams up there, but there’s also quite a few teams I think we’re better than,” Cotton said. “We just have to go do the job. We have a lot to work on this week and if we do what we’re supposed to, I think we’ll have some success up there too.”

Del Norte will play in the La Junta Holiday Shootout this week. The Tigers will first play Hoehne at 5:30 p.m. at Swink.