ALBUQUERQUE — Alex Kirk's career in The Pit has not been a happy one, but it's bound to get better.

The 6-foot-11 Los Alamos post, who is signed to play at The University of New Mexico next season, finished his high school career with another loss in the Class AAAA State Basketball Tournament.

The latest came Wednesday to No. 3 Albuquerque Academy 56-47.

"There's nothing to say," Kirk said. "Four straight years we've lost in The Pit."

Kirk had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the effort and Austin Wolstein added 15 points, but the Chargers (22-7) forced the Hilltoppers (19-10) into 19 turnovers.

Academy used relentless pressure on the perimeter to deny Kirk the ball, and then closed in on him with numerous players when he did manage to get it in the interior.

"They came at me pretty hard whenever I got the ball," he said.

It was by design.

"We tried to put our biggest, strongest players on him," Academy head coach Mike Brown said. "We have two of them. One was Ben Masserano, and he just did a great job, then we try to help."

The Chargers didn't wait.

"Mostly in the first quarter, I still got the ball," Kirk said. "I would dish it to Brandon (Owens), Austin or Zach (Parks)."

Through the first quarter, the game was close as Los Alamos held a 13-10 lead before the Chargers closed the quarter with a 6-0 surge. That run eventually stretched to 20-4 as the Hilltoppers' offense bogged down.

"I don't think we attacked them as much as we planned to," said Hilltoppers head coach Alan Kirk. "We had anticipated, or the intent was, to attack the press a little bit more."

Instead, the Los Alamos guards had trouble dealing with an array of presses and traps.

"I think we got tentative," coach Kirk said. "Once we got tentative, it allowed their traps to take hold, and we held the ball too long. We didn't move it around as much as we talked about in practice. And the end results were not good."

The Hilltoppers put on a little pressure of their own in the fourth quarter, using an 8-0 run to trim to lead to 46-39 midway through. But that was as close as Los Alamos would get.

"We have 10 seniors on our team and we called timeout when they made that little run," said Chargers forward Patrick Zacharias. "We just looked around and we have confidence in each other. We said, 'Let's just be strong with the ball and let's close out the game.' When you have 10 seniors on your team, you can do that."

While this was end of the younger Kirk's career in green and gold, he's anticipating many good moments in The Pit in the years to come.

"I get to play in one of the best programs in the nation, obviously, No. 8 in the country," he said. "It's great that I'll be able to play here in front of the home crowd and everything. My dad will be able to come watch me. That's really an honor. Hopefully, I'll be up for that. It's awesome what they're doing and hopefully, I'll be a part of that next year and the next four years."