BERNALILLO — Cliff’s top-seeded Cowboys tamed the No. 8 Mustangs of Mountainair 73-44 in a state Class 1A boys high school basketball tournament quarterfinal game at Richard Joseph Kloeppel Gymnasium in the Sandoval County seat Wednesday afternoon.

The ’Stangs , led by 5-foot-7 senior point guard Joshua Ballejos and his game-high 27 points, did their hustling best against Cliff (27-1). But Cowboys senior Ethan Shelley, all 6-5 of him, was just too much for Mountainair to handle.
Shelley, a beefy presence at the low post, scored 22 points to lead Cliff to its 15th straight victory. The Cowboys are undefeated against in-state schools.
“They (the Mustangs) did better than anyone expected this year,” Mountainair third-year coach Kenneth Branch said. “I think they did better than they expected. Josh Ballejos carried us the whole game and the whole year.”
The ’Stangs (15-12) had won their last six games, the District 7-1A tournament title in the process and beat Roswell Valley Christian in a state first-round game prior to Wednesday’s matchup.
“It was a dream season for us,” Ballejos said.
Mountainair did put together a run late in the second quarter. Trailing by 20 points, senior Patrick Romero scored on a running fling with 1:22 left in the initial half, and Ballejos, with a crossover dribble as he went right to left across the lane got a layup with a minute to go to close the gap to 31-15.
Mustangs senior Josh Gonzales followed with a big block on the defensive end at the 50-seconds mark, and Cowboy Cody Runyan, under pressure, walked with 38 seconds left. Branch leaped to his feet and pumped his fist in appreciation of his boys’ effort.
“Patrick Romero and (senior) Garyn Anaya led us on defense all year,” Branch said.
Ballejos then closed the gap to 31-19 on a pullup jumper with 12.8 seconds remaining in the first half. But Cliff pulled away for a 48-29 advantage by the conclusion of the third.
Cliff, the campus for which is in Grant County north of Silver City, then outscored Mountainair 25-15 in the fourth to close it out. Gonzales fouled out with 3:44 left in the game.
“I didn’t even think about it being my last year, my last game until I got my fifth foul,” said Gonzales, who shook the referee’s hand as he headed to the bench. “We had a great year together.”
Besides Ballejos, the ’Stangs’ other scorers were Romero (eight), junior Martin Chavez  (five) and Gonzales (four).