The Bean Valley Conference Tournament's boys basketball championship game at Estancia High School on Saturday was one of those games in which no team really lost.

The host Bears, attacking in four- and five-man waves of substitutions, ultimately wore out Mountainair in the fourth quarter to garner a 69-51 victory and earn their 16th BVC title, their third in the last five years, in what was the 73rd annual version of the oldest prep tourney in the state.

"I was proud of them; they've gotten a whole lot better," Estancia coach Robert McCaskill said of the opposing Mustangs. "And I'm proud of our guys, too, because they picked it up to win it."

Just to make it to the finals was an accomplishment for Class 1A Mountainair (4-6 after the game). The highest the 'Stangs — they placed fifth the last two seasons — had previously finished at the tournament in the last six years was third in 2006.

The last time Mountainair took home the big brass ball of the Raymond "Bud" Coburn Memorial Bean Valley Tournament Traveling Championship Trophy, was way back in 1970.

"We've come a long way," Mustangs coach Kenneth Branch said. "I think this will help us be ready for District (7-1A play)."

The Mustangs showed much improvement from its 81-51 loss at Estancia on Dec. 1. Mountainair only trailed by two points, at 42-40, with 2:11 left in the third quarter after Patrick Romero hit a 3-pointer, and his teammate, Joshua Ballejos, got a steal and a capitalizing layup.

Bear Destry Oberg quickly quelled the comeback attempt with a trey at the 1:20 mark, and Estancia's Troy Mitchell knocked down a baseline jumper with 50 seconds left to establish a 47-40 cushion. A Ballejos free throw with five seconds remaining rounded out the scoring in the third quarter, and the home team led 47-41.

Mitchell's moves weren't always pretty, but his shots somehow seemed to find their mark. He had a game-high 23 points and was named to the all-tournament team along with fellow Bear Jorge Quintana, who scored 14 points.

"We came out sloppy, and they were better" said Mitchell, a junior. "But we stuck with it."

The Mustangs succumbed in the final eight minutes of play. Class 2A Estancia outscored the visitors 22-10 in the fourth with Bear Lawrence Chavez providing seven of his 20 points during the period.

"They (the 'Stangs) really have gotten better," Chavez said.

The play down low between the teams' burly senior posts was a battle with some meat in it. Quintana is 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, and Mountainair's Cody McCurdy is 6-3 and 240 pounds.

"It was pretty intense under there," Quintana said. "But it was fun. We've talked to each other. We got to know each other. He's a good guy. We were talking a little smack during the game."

Ballejos, a senior point guard who was also selected for the all-tourney squad, paced the Mustangs' balanced scoring attack with 10 points. Josh Gonzales and Romero had nine points each.

Mountainair's lowly 10-for-27, 37-percent performance from the free-throw line was a major factor in its loss. Estancia (8-5) was 18-of-30 for 60 percent.

"I think it was the difference," Branch said. "We worked very hard to get there, and then when we got to the line, sometimes we didn't even get one."

More Mountainair

The Mustangs qualified for the BVC finals with a big 47-37 victory over Menaul, the 2009 BVC champion, in the semifinals on Friday.

Mountainair, after trailing 23-19 at halftime, pulled away in the third. The 'Stangs outscored the 1A Panthers 16-2 in that quarter with a hustling Gonzales getting seven of his team-high 15 points in the period.

Mountainair took the lead for good at 27-25 with an 8-foot bank shot from Gonzales with 3:48 left in the third. The Mustangs amassed a 10-point cushion by the conclusion of the quarter on a McCurdy putback off a teammate's charity miss with about 55 seconds left to give Mountainair a 35-25 advantage.

Mountainair then held on in the final stanza. Ballejos contributed 11 points for the 'Stangs, and Jordyn Monahan paced Menaul with 16.

"There were a million differences in this game (compared to his team's pretourney efforts)," Branch said. "Cody McCurdy, just his big body, made a lot of difference… And Josh Gonzales can be a little spacey sometimes, but when he's got it together, he really helps us."

Mountainair also beat 3A Cuba 62-57 in the first round on Jan. 7.

More Estancia

The Bears beat 1A Temple Baptist 63-40 in Friday's semifinal matchup. Eleven of the 12 players on Estancia's roster scored, including Vincent Alvarado with 10 points. Temple's Devin Padilla, poured in 29 points.

The Bears beat 1A Alamo Navajo 73-49 in their first-round game on Jan. 7. Chavez and Mitchell tied for team honors with 15 points apiece, and the Cougars' Elijahwon Apachito had 21.

Mountainair hosted East Mountain Tuesday. See Hoops Roundup, B1.