Play as a team, maintain composure and spread the wealth.

For Santa Fe High, those three things appear to be the magic elixir for winning games. Most of the time the combination proves frustratingly elusive.

On Friday night, in Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium, the Demons did all three to near perfection in a 74-62 District 2AAAA win over Bernalillo.

Five players finished in double figures for Santa Fe High while a sixth had nine points. The win vaults the Demons (6-13, 2-1) into sole possession of second place in district, a game behind Capital and one up on the Spartans and Española Valley.

Santa Fe High visits Capital on Wednesday. And like in Capital's win over Bernalillo earlier this week, the Demons got the job done by converting from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Santa Fe hit 23 of 29 tries from the line in the final period, going 36-for-47 for the game.

Head coach David Rodriguez said it was a bigger deal for his team to find success at the charity stripe than in it was in shutting down Bernalillo's dynamic guard, Brandon Saiz.

Although Saiz had 19 points, he failed to score in the fourth quarter and picked up his fifth foul late in the contest.

"We've been struggling all year with free throws," Rodriguez said. "We've been getting in a little better every game, but [Friday] was a big confidence boost, I think."

And so was the return of Santa Fe power forward DeVante Pellegrin. Injured during football season, he was making just his second appearance on the hardwood.

He finished with 10 points and two rebounds in limited minutes. In his two games he has scored 25 points. Not bad for a player who's bulky left knee brace conceals a damaged joint with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and two torn meniscuses.

"I've come to the realization that if I'm not getting hurt, I should be playing," Pellegrin said. "It doesn't hurt. I've messed it up three times since I first got hurt. Every time I do I spend about a week on crutches and then come back."

Pellegrin didn't start Friday's game, but his impact was felt not long after the opening tip. He scored his team's last five points in the first quarter. He returned in the second half and used his natural aggression to clear space under the boards.

"I'm one of those players who likes to get in another guy's head by playing hard every second," he said. "Sometimes I wind up letting them get in my head, so that's one thing I've had to learn not to do."

The Demons led 29-24 at halftime and remained in front until an 8-0 Spartans run gave the visitors a brief 43-41 advantage late in the third quarter. Santa Fe responded with an 8-0 run of its own to go in front for good.

Elliot Nicholas led Santa Fe with 16 points and seven rebounds. He went 8-for-10 from the line in the second half, hitting four straight during a critical stretch in the middle of the fourth quarter after Bernalillo got within 51-49.

"Now we have to carry this kind of game over when we go on the road," he said.

Santa Fe's Wyatt Honstein had 12 points, Moses Montoya 11, Pellegrin and Oscar Chavez 10 apiece, and Nick Martinez had nine.

The Spartans (13-8, 1-2) got scoring from just five players, all starters. Tristan Arnett had a game-high 22 points and Trey Darnell 12.

Bernalillo's bench was outscored 27-0 and the Spartans committed 23 turnovers to Santa Fe High's 17.