As Tuesday night’s game wore on, Gary Filbert Court’s crowd grew louder.

Mexico vs Borgia Sectional Photo Gallery

It was loud from the opening tip for the Mexico boys’ first ever home state sectional game but reached its apex in the fourth quarter when the eighth-ranked Bulldogs overtook No. 2 St. Francis Borgia to win 62-56. Mexico was down 33-24 at halftime and eventually outscored the Knights 24-15 in the fourth quarter to advance to the program’s third quarterfinal game in four years.

Head coach Darren Pappas said there were a number of key performances and moments that lifted Mexico (27-2) to victory, including DJ Long’s 20 points and 10 rebounds, Kaden Benne’s 18 points and four 3-pointers, PJ Perkins’ 13 rebounds to go with nine points, and Charlie Fisher’s block in the final seconds. What Pappas is most impressed with, though, is how the Bulldogs felt even after falling behind 21-8 after the first quarter.

“They were all positive on the bench,” Pappas said. “It would have been easy to fold after that first half, especially that first quarter. They were trying to lift each other up.”

In the first quarter, Borgia (25-4) cleanly ripped away the ball a few times from the Bulldogs for buckets and knocked down three 3-pointers. Adam Rickman — who entered Tuesday as the Knights’ leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals — finished around his season double-double averages of 17.8 points and 9.7 rebounds with 16 points and 10 rebounds. 

Rickman’s points steadily increased after a two-point first quarter but too much, according to Pappas, and that addressed the others around him.

“In the first half, we were having so much attention on Rickman, that we were sagging off guys on the perimeter, and we were letting them have wide-open looks. In the second half, we clamped down a little more defensively and got the job done. We were contesting shots and keeping them off the boards because they were getting second, third and fourth possessions at times, and then we held them to one shot and out.”

Perkins, Long and others put back Mexico misses to cut down its deficit more and more. Pappas said Perkins did a good job solely defending Rickman after the Bulldogs made a greater effort to have “all five guys guard their man and not help off as much” to disrupt a Borgia squad with little turnovers and fouls in the first half.

Conversely, Pappas said Borgia did a good job guarding one of Mexico’s key weapons. After averaging 14.6 points per game, including 17 and 23 points in district games, Jaydon Eldridge didn’t score until the fourth quarter, but Pappas said he affected the game through defense and rebounding. He said Eldridge was covered by two defenders much of the night and also by two of his teammates.

Benne, who had a combined 12 points in two district games, knocked down two of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter in which he scored 10 points. Fisher added eight points off the bench and swatted away a shot at the end of a Borgia fastbreak attempt while Mexico clung to a 60-56 lead in the final seconds.

“We wanted to continue to put pressure on the paint, but then if we could kick it out, hit some shots tonight,” Pappas said. “Kaden hit a couple shots that were big.”

Benne said Mexico’s defense came together in the second half to force turnovers from Borgia and allow the Bulldogs to be “at their best.” After that, his teammates found him open and he didn’t miss.

“They were definitely pretty big and exciting to make,” Benne said. “I was pretty calm-minded. All I was thinking about was getting the shot up and helping the team win.”

Tate Marquart was determined for Borgia to be back in the game after the Knights fell behind 50-43 following a 12-0 Mexico run. Of his four 3-pointers that compiled his 12 points, three of Marquart’s shots fell in the fourth quarter. He snatched the rebound that set up a fastbreak layup for yet another Borgia quick bucket, but it was denied by Fisher.

“I was in a bad position over on the other side,” Fisher said. “I saw him coming baseline so I ran over there as fast as I could, and I went up and got it. All of the adrenaline rushed through me at that moment so I was able to get up there and do that.”

Benne helped Mexico clinch victory with a couple of free throws after being fouled and then Fisher rose two more times: when he was carried on the shoulders of the Mexico student body and when he cut down the nets with the other Bulldogs to commemorate a significant victory for the program.

Pappas wasn’t surprised that Fisher made that type of play, given his ability and the swelling support he had from his home gym.

“Charlie works extremely hard with coach (Devon) Scott, our strength coach, in the weight room,” Pappas said. “He’s got one of the biggest verticals in the school. He got up and used that, and the energy in the building helped lift him up a little higher too.”

Before that 12-0 fourth-quarter run, Mexico wore down Borgia’s 41-33 lead in the third quarter to just a 41-38 deficit going into the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs forced some turnovers after having hardly any in the first half, including one senior reserve Aidan Knipfel that sparked Mexico.

“That’s just a momentum swing there and brings energy off the bench to stay positive,” Pappas said when asked about his steal in the third quarter. “Aidan gave us great minutes, hit two big free throws (in the third quarter) and gave us energy defensively,” 

Pappas said it means a lot to defeat a Borgia team that played to its highest number of victories and winning percentage since 2010. Mexico has won sixteen straight to add to its most victories since 28 wins two years ago. 

The Bulldogs won their first 28 that season until running into perennial powerhouse Vashon in the quarterfinals and now they meet the three-time reigning state champion Wolverines (23-6) again on Saturday. Pappas feels fortunate to have fans helping out his team and looks forward to having that again with Mexico one win away from a state Final Four.

“I’m happy for our ballclub, happy for our community and happy for our student section,” Pappas said. “We couldn’t have done it without their electricity and their energy.”