RIO RANCHO — Coronado High School head coach Ezau Rios will tell you his school one of the smallest in its class. Not his team. His School.

"We have 37 boys total in the school," he said. "Some teams in our class have 39 players turn out and they're disappointed."

Albuquerque's Bosque School is one of the largest — on the court and off. And that size was probably the biggest factor in the fourth-seeded Bobcats' 65-49 victory over
No. 5 Coronado in Wednesday's quarterfinals of the Class AA State Basketball Tournament.

Despite their difficulties, the Leopards, who finished 23-5 on the season, were competitive all season and competitive for much of the first and third quarters against bigger, more physical Bosque.

But the lack of players and height eventually caught up with Coronado.

When starting guards Jessi Chavez and Patrick Cordova each took their third fouls midway through the second quarter, the Leopards could only seem to watch as the Bobcats turned a 15-14 Leopards advantage into a 31-19 Bosque halftime lead on a 17-2 second-quarter run.

"That was really it," said Rios, of losing his starting two senior guards . "We have a limited group of kids, a seven-man team really. So when any of them get in foul trouble it hurts us. Especially, Patrick. When he's not on the floor it really changes us."

The Bobcats (25-4) also threw Coronado off by employing a straight man-to-man defense instead of the zone defense they'd used in a 64-36 win earlier in the season in Gallina.

"It kind of shocked me," said Cordova.

"We had hard time adjusting," agreed fellow senior Pedro Valdez, who paced the Leopards with a game-high 21 points.

The Leopards also lost out on rebounds, 40-20. Most troubling was Bosque School's advantage on the offensive boards, 16-6.

"They outrebounded us on lost rotations, where someone was supposed to rotate out," said Rios. "It something that we have been good at in the past. But the last couple of weeks we've had trouble getting the help-side box out."

The Leopards made a run in the third quarter, 9-2, spurred by Chavez, Valdez and Cordova, cutting the Bosque lead to 33-28. But the Bobcats responded with a 10-2 run, sparked by a pair of 3-pointers by Jesse Chavez and Myles Coven. The Bobcats took a 43-32 lead in the final period and never looked back.

Coronado moves to Class A next season, where Rios said he expects to be in good shape.

"We have Johnny (Chavez) and Jason (Velasquez) coming back," he said, "and the experience our guys got these last two games, where you lose and you're done, is something we haven't faced before so I think that'll help them to grow up and get better."

Chavez agreed.

"We're losing four seniors but we have a bunch of good players coming up so, hopefully, we'll make it here (to the Santa Ana Star Center) again or further."

Rios said he felt his team made a lot of strides in the season.

"I'm incredibly proud of these guys," he said. "They play all the time. They're a team. They're willing to sacrifice everything — their bodies, their points, their time — because they know we have so much against us. Only by better effort are we able to get where we're at and that know that.

"To make it this far, to be one of the last eight, I'm just really proud of these kids."