Texline boys’ 2nd state title

Tornadoes’ 2nd title

Texline crosses finish line in 1st place

By DAVE WOHLFARTH

Silky Sullivan was a racehorse famous for come-from-behind finishes. Will Luther will be remembered forever in Texline basketball lore for his Silky-like explosion in the stretch in the state Class 1A championship game last spring.

With his Tornadoes trailing by four points with less than a minute left in the game, Luther scored eight points in 40 seconds to provide Texline with a thrilling 54-53 victory over Slidell.

Luther swished a 3-pointer from 27 feet, a 2-pointer from 13 feet and another 3 from 22 feet to put the Tornadoes ahead by a point with 12 seconds left. Slidell was unable to get off a shot in the remaining time. No photo was needed at the finish. Will Luther, left, Coach Coby Beckner, Stratton Potter and Noel Lozano show off a banner commemorating the

With his team trailing by two Texline Tornadoes’ 2021 Class 1A state championship along with the state title trophy and net. (Photo by Cathy with 17 seconds showing, Texline Martindale) Coach Coby Beckner had instructed Luther during a timeout. to our four free throws. That was a little bit one-sided there. We

“He told me we needed a 2, but if they collapsed (on defense) had a lot of things going against us.” to let it go,” Luther said. However, Beckner praised his players for not losing their poise.

That’s exactly what happened after Luther darted past his “I never felt like our guys were panicking,” he said. There defender and received a pass from Noel Lozano. was no finger-pointing or disagreements in the final huddles.

“I pulled it back and shot it right behind the line,” Luther Such was not the case a couple of months earlier when Texline said. “It was perfect.” suffered a 71-68 home-court loss to District 3-1A co-champion

Luther, a 6-4 junior forward last spring, didn’t save all his Nazareth. That loss – considered the turning point of the season sterling play for the final moments. He finished the game with – created some tension in the Tornadoes’ locker room. 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals and was named the “We didn’t play our best and when we got to the locker room, Class 1A state tourney MVP. we weren’t really the best of friends,” Luther said. “We were

Something else occurred in that final timeout. Luther credited arguing about things that happened during the game, trying to a sophomore for keeping the Tornadoes tuned in to the game. make excuses.” That was 5-9 sophomore guard Stratton Potter. Beckner used the loss as a teaching point.

“He kept telling us, ‘We’re going to win this. All we need to “They hit a 3 from the corner right at the buzzer and were do is get some stops,’” Luther said. “Luckily, they missed tons celebrating like they won the state championship. And that was of free throws.” all on video, which I showed these guys several times,” he said.

Indeed, Potter kept the Tornadoes’ hopes alive. “I thought the ceiling for us was as high as the ceiling could

“I just told everybody that we were still in it, and it wasn’t get. We just got to figure out how to quit being momma’s boys over. Somebody’s going to hit a big shot and we’d still be in it,” and first-born or last-born babies and grow up a little bit and start Potter said. “I truly believed that we were still going to win.” being accountable for our efforts. You know, it was kinda a hard A punch in the stomach conversation. But I think it was one that we needed.”

The Tornadoes shouldn’t have needed Luther’s heroics at the Loss sparked a resurgence end. They had led most of the game and had a 12-point bulge So that loss, only Texline’s third in a four-loss campaign, entering the fourth quarter. But Slidell went on a 16-0 run that left sparked a resurgence, according to Lozano, the 6-5 junior forward. Coach Beckner feeling like he had been punched in the stomach. “After that game, we kinda became like a brotherhood because

“I really did, yeah, because it all happened so fast,” he said. we knew what we wanted, and everybody was on the same page “I never, ever felt like we were choking. I felt like it was more that we wanted to go to state and win state,” he said. that we just couldn’t hit shots. Yeah, and they shot 26 free throws (Continued on next page) 20 Special Features

Lozano and Luther provided a potent inside punch for the Tornadoes. Luther averaged 19.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Lozano contributed 16.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg.

Lozano scored 34 and Luther 28 in Texline’s 84-51 win over Springlake-Earth in the regional quarterfinals. With both Will Luther and brother Colton Luther in foul trouble, Lozano had 18 in the Tornadoes’ 58-56 victory over Eula in the state semifinals. Potter (11.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.3 apg) had his best game with 19 points in the 72-57 regional finals conquest of Paducah.

The Eula game was one of three close calls, including the finale over Slidell, in the playoffs.

Texline’s poor foul shooting in the fourth quarter (5 for 15) enabled Eula to erase a 10-point deficit and cut the gap to two points with three seconds left. Eula’s long attempt at the buzzer failed.

“It was a three-fourths shot after they got a rebound off a free throw, and he just heaved it and actually hit the dad-gum backboard and the rim,” Beckner said.

What really had caused the Texline coach anxiety was the Tornadoes’ 57-55 squeaker over Jayton in the regional semifinals..

“We won by two, and they had the ball at the end. We were fortunate in some ways to win that game,” he said. “Of all the teams we played, if I had to pick one that I would not like to play again, it would be Jayton. Very well coached and good personnel.”

Tough schedule helped

Texline played a lot of tough teams during the season thanks to Beckner’s scheduling strategy.

The Tornadoes played a home and away series against Class 5A Palo Duro early.

“I felt like that would help our guys focus a little bit more during the preseason in the fall,” Beckner said. “Because they knew if we just kinda dilly-dallied around, we were going to get ran out of the gym.”

The Tornadoes had an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter before losing 87-69 playing at Texline. PD coasted 117-76 at its home in Amarillo.

But Texline beat 3A Dalhart twice and 2A Stratford, Gruver and Sanford-Fritch. The Tornadoes did absorb a late-season 75-40 loss to Clarendon, which went on to win the state 2A championship.

That was Texline’s last loss as the Tornadoes won all seven playoff games to finish 26-4 and capture the school’s second state title. The 2015 state champs went 35-3.

The 2020-21 Tornadoes were expected to be one year away from greatness. Colton Luther, a 5-8 guard (8 ppg, 7 rpg, 5 apg), was the only senior starter on the team. He joined Will Luther, Lozano and Potter in the starting lineup. Elias Espino, a 5-9 junior guard (13.9 ppg), and Angel Herrera, a 5-8 junior guard (6.7 ppg), alternated as the fifth starter.

“We didn’t have much room for error, because we were a fairly young team. Everybody knew we were going to be good this year coming up, and I kept saying, ‘Let’s do it now,’” Beckner said.

“Let’s do it this year”

“Let’s do it this year, because you never know what’s going to happen. And then we had some breaks. We had some luck. Every one of these guys (Will Luther, Lozano and Potter) played big at different times in do-or-die games.”

Reserve Samuel Montes, a 5-11 forward, was the second senior on the roster.

“We were all wanting to win for those two kids, the only seniors who stuck with it from their freshman year,” Will Luther said. “We were so close to them, and we wanted them to go out as state champions.”

Potter pointed out that the closeness was what made the Tornadoes terrific.

“Growing up together, playing the entire time and wanting it more for each other than we did for ourselves,” he said. “I was in second grade, and Colton, Willy and Noel, they were in third and fourth. We played every year together since.”

The Tornadoes ran an up-tempo offense. “I like it when we play with haste and pace,” Beckner said.

He called Texline’s defense disruptive, whatever the formation. “I just don’t like teams to get comfortable with what they’re doing,” he said.

Support from three states

Beckner is in his second go-round at Texline. After playing on a state championship team in Clayton, New Mexico, and on outstanding teams at Amarillo College and Lubbock Christian University, he coached both football and basketball at Texline, beginning in 1987. Then he coached at several New Mexico and Texas schools before a brief exodus from coaching. He returned to Texline for the the 2016-17 season. He owns a 421-231 career boys coaching record in his 23-year career.

He lives in nearby Clayton, 10 miles from Texline, where he and his brother own three businesses. He also serves on the Clayton City Council and is the city’s mayor pro-tem.

He was surprised how much support the Texline team received from Clayton, Boise City, Oklahoma, and Dalhart as the Tornadoes made their tournament march. All those towns carried broadcasts of Texline’s games.

And neighboring Dalhart was effusive as the Tornadoes returned home from winning the championship in San Antonio.

“When we came through Dalhart, the whole town was out on the main street,’ Beckner said. “We got a police escort, and the fire trucks and everybody escorted us all the way through Dalhart,

(Continued from previous page)

and then they escorted us all the way from Dalhart to Texline.”

In Texline, there was a big celebration, complete with cake, in the school cafeteria.

Beckner estimated that many of Texline’s 500 citizens had made the week-long trip to first Denver City, the site of Texline’s state semifinal win over Eula, and then San Antonio for the Slidell finals.

“Most of the people from Texline, when they left for our game on Tuesday, were also packed for San Antonio,” Beckner said. “They had made their reservations and had their jobs covered up for them.”

That’s showing some confidence.

Will Luther

Colton Luther Stratton Potter

Elias Espino Noel Lozano

Angel Herrera