ALBUQUERQUE — Thousands of children in the state of New Mexico are raised and encouraged to dream of playing in The Pit.

Hundreds of coaches fill those heads with the notion of running down the ramp and playing before the size of crowds they can only imagine.

Then, there's Richard Martinez.

After watching his Española Valley boys basketball team survive yet another Pit scare Wednesday night by a 55-52 score over Grants in a Class AAAA state quarterfinal, the Sundevils head coach had come to a loathsome conclusion.

"I hate this place," Martinez said as he walked into the interview room.

It didn't have so much to do with the determined, scrappy Pirates (18-9) giving No. 2-seed Española (27-2) all it could handle before it advanced to a AAAA semifinal today against No. 3 Albuquerque Academy.

It was more about the history the place held for his team.

Like the triple-overtime loss to Artesia in the AAAA semifinal last March.

And the overtime loss to the Chargers in the same round in 2009.

And the quarterfinal dismissal by Albuquerque St. Pius X the year before that.

When Martinez saw the building in its renovating stage, he was hoping the facelift would also remove the specter of the past.

"When I came over here to The Pit and I saw all the construction, I thought I might not know this Pit, because I have such bad luck in it," Martinez said. "Then I come inside and it's the same old Pit."

Martinez, however, still has the same old confidence and determination that remains unfazed. He had no doubt about the outcome, even as Grants, the 10th seed, used an 8-2 run to climb to within 54-52 after Brandon Rael's layup off a Loan Lewis steal with 32 seconds left.

Resolve was firm even as Rodney Coles missed a one-and-one opportunity at the free-throw line at :23.8 that gave Grants the opening it needed for an incredible comeback. All it was going to take was one player to make a play, and all five to execute in the most crucial moments of the season.

"In a close ball game, offensively, it's going to come down to execution," Grants head coach Marty Zeller said. "Or execution causing you to go to the free-throw line and make free throws. Right there at the end, we didn't execute."

But Juan Trujillo did.

The Sundevils senior guard saw an opening when Pirates guard Chris Lopez got the inbound pass with
9.9 seconds left.

"He went straight to the corner, and I thought it was my chance," Trujillo said. "He dribbles a little too high, and I poked it from the back."

Waiting for the ball was Coles at the free-throw line, and he was fouled.

With a second chance to seal the win, Coles almost pulled it off.

He hit one of two free throws at :06.8 for 55-52, but it left Grants with one more opportunity for Cinderella to continue her dance.

"I really thought I could redeem myself there at the end," Coles said. "I should have made the first one (the one-and-one) and made both of the last ones I took to ice the game."

Still, it required the Pirates, who did not have a timeout, to hurry for an open look. Eddie Gonzales took the final shot, and it fell about a foot short as time ran out, much to the chagrin of the Pirates.

"Coming into the game, reports were we had only a 15 percent upset chance," Grants guard Isiah Whitmore said. "That made us work a little harder the next two days. Coming into this game, we had the most confidence any team could have."

It never waned, even when Española took a 44-32 lead on Fabian Valdez's putback with 9 seconds left in the third quarter. Lewis' desperation 3 that banked in at the buzzer infused more adrenaline into the Pirates sideline.

Still, Española were savvy enough to survive, and Martinez believes that quality has been overlooked amid the Sundevils' troubles in hallowed territory.

He spent 2 minutes, 20 seconds extolling the virtues of the players he has shaped over the seven years at the helm of Española's most beloved treasure.

But the crux of his argument was this:

"I want all you all to understand that Española fears no one," Martinez said. "And whether we've lost the last two years, or if we come back another 15 years — whether it's me at the helm or somebody else — we fear no one."

There definitely is some ill will, though.

It's more about the place than the opponent.