As one of the smallest schools in the Class 1A ranks, the smallest team in their league and certainly the smallest in the state-tournament field, the Mabton Vikings have a big chip on their collective shoulder.

But it certainly didn’t weigh them down.

“Everybody always doubted us,” said junior Enrique Huecias, who scored all six of his points in the second half as Mabton held off River View 44-37 to capture the school’s highest-ever state trophy in its first 1A tournament appearance.

“We lost three of the main players from last year, and it was a big shock for everybody to see us get here,” Huecias added. “But we always believed in ourselves. We believed this was the best team Mabton ever had — not offensively, but defensively.”

And defense was what earned Mabton its victory over River View, which had already trounced the Vikings twice this season, including a 16-point thumping in the SCAC district final.

“Like Coach (Brock Ledgerwood) said, you can’t beat a good team three times in a row,” said Viking sophomore Tyler Herrera, who finished with nine points, a game-high eight rebounds and three assists.”

Trailing 12-9 early in the second period, Mabton (15-12) proceeded to put the clamps down on the Panthers (23-5), who over the next eight minutes missed 10 straight field-goal attempts and committed six turnovers. The Vikings ran off 10 unanswered points to take a lead they would never surrender.

“That was just flat-out defensive intensity, just defense,” Ledgerwood said. “To me, it comes back to heart — the heart they have to fight.”

“Everybody played with more intensity,” said Huecias, whose layup early in the third quarter gave Mabton its biggest lead (28-15) and hit another to end an 8-0 River View run after the Panthers had pulled to within 30-25. Nick Gaston scored 12 of his team-high 15 points for River View in the second half, but couldn’t close the gap.

“For all the seniors, this was really big,” Huecias said. “Those (River View) guys took the district title away from us. It was our turn to get it back.”

One of those seniors, Eric Tellez, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, ending a year that exceeded everyone’s expectations but the Vikings themselves.

“At the beginning of the year,” Ledgerwood said, “we kind of figured if we came together as a team, we could be competing for a district spot.

“We really peaked at the right time.”

Mabton -- Reynolds 1-1 1-2 3, R. Sanchez 0-2 0-0 0, Herrera 3-9 3-5 9, Smith 0-2 3-5 3, E. Sanchez 1-1 1-2 3, Morfin 2-4 1-2 5, Huecias 3-5 0-0 6, Sosa 0-0 0-0 0, Tellez 5-8 1-4 11, Galvan 0-0 0-0 0, Quintero 2-3 0-0 4, Brambila 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-35 10-20 44.
River View -- N. Gaston 4-14 3-6 15, Baker 1-5 0-2 2, Davis 2-9 0-0 5, K. Gier 2-7 0-2 4, M. Gaston 0-0 0-0 0, Sickler 1-4 0-0 2, Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Ledgerwood 4-7 1-2 9, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, J. Gier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-46 4-12 37.
Mabton	7	12	11	14	--	44
River View	10	2	11	14	--	37
3-point goals--M 0-5 (Huecias 0-1, Morfin 0-1, Smith 0-1, Herrera 0-2), RV 5-22 (N. Gaston 4-11, Davis 1-5, Baker 0-1, Sickler 0-1, K. Gier 0-4). Rebounds--M 34 (Herrera 8, Tellez 7), RV 27 (Ledgerwood 6, Sickler 5). Assists--M 8 (Morfin 4), RV 11 (N. Gaston 4, Baker 4). Steals--M 10 (Morfin 3), RV 6 (N. Gaston 2, Sickler 2, Ledgerwood 2). Blocked shots--M 0, RV 2. Fouled out--K. Gier. Total fouls--M 13, RV 21. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--M 16, RV 15.