Lordsburg boys basketball secures eighth straight win over Mescalero 60-55

Lordsburg snuck past the Mescalero Apache Chiefs 60-55 in what an original account called a close, late-game contest, a result listed as the Mavericks' eighth straight win. The game occurred Saturday, Feb. 19, 2026, according to that report.

The original write-up described the victory as part of a “significant midseason surge” for Lordsburg but provided only the final score and the characterization of a tight finish. That account did not include a full box score, venue or individual player statistics for the Feb. 19 Mescalero game.

Earlier in the week, Delawareonline reported a 59-47 Lordsburg victory over the Tularosa Wildcats at the Michael Dorame Gymnasium. Delawareonline listed Lordsburg as No. 1 with a 23-1 overall record and 5-0 in league play, and noted the Mavericks were 8-0 on the road. In that Tularosa game Jacob Esquivel, identified as a junior, led Lordsburg with 15 points, five in the first half and 10 in the second, and was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. A player identified only as Plowman scored 15 points, Alejandro Estrada had nine points and three 3-pointers, and Jose Escobar added eight. Delawareonline recorded Lordsburg as 12-for-22 from the free-throw line in the Tularosa game.

Coach DJ Saucedo, identified in the Delawareonline coverage, framed the Tularosa matchup and his preparation this way: “They're a really good team,” Saucedo said. “I think in my opinion, they're a top-8 team in the state. But our kids respond well. We worked on spacing, we worked on shooting a ton. We come to that point of the year where I expect that from them where we got to get going and we did it right off the bat and that was the key. [...]” Delawareonline also summarized the game-plan as “to score early and keep Tularosa's offense at bay.”

Delawareonline noted late-game pressure from Tularosa in that matchup: the Wildcats hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and outscored Lordsburg 16-12 in the final period to cut the final margin to 12. That story also placed the rivalry in context: since 2005 the two teams have met 34 times with Tularosa leading the series 19-15, while Lordsburg has gone 8-2 in its last 10 meetings with Tularosa.

A separate NMACT recap provides historical context for the Lordsburg program from the 2017 U.S. Bank State Basketball Championship. NMACT reported Lordsburg (29-2 in 2017) captured the Blue Trophy with a 64-38 win over Mesilla Valley Christian, with Jacob Esquivel posting a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double and Johnny Plowman contributing 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. That 2017 box score also showed Lordsburg shooting 46 percent from the field and outrebounding Mesilla Valley 43-34; those stats are explicitly from 2017 and should not be conflated with the 2026 roster without confirmation.

Two separate accounts label different games as the Mavericks’ eighth straight win: the Feb. 19 Mescalero result and the Delawareonline Tularosa victory. That discrepancy means the sequence and exact length of the streak require confirmation with Lordsburg athletic officials; the team’s record as listed in Delawareonline for the Tularosa story was 23-1. Final box scores, venue for the Mescalero game, and official streak totals were not included with the Feb. 19 report.