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It's razzing season for St. Pius X boys basketball coach Damian Segura.

In recent weeks, Segura has taken time to remind his two-time defending Class 4A state champion Sartans about the coveted hardware missing from the school's trophy case.

"Every day at practice during district, coach always harasses us," Sartans guard Paul Jessen said, smiling. "He says, `We can't win a district championship. We can't even host one.' "

Jessen and his St. Pius X teammates took another step toward silencing Segura by beating rival Albuquerque Academy, 59-55, on Tuesday night.

With one more win - or a Belen loss - the Sartans will clinch the top seed in next week's District 5-4A tournament.

If recent history is any clue, St. Pius X (20-5 overall, 8-1 in district) should land it. The Sartans either have to beat Moriarty, a team with three wins all season, or hope Academy (13-12, 6-3) can knock off Belen, a team the Chargers beat earlier this year on the road. And don't forget Academy has extra motivation: Longtime coach Mike Brown's next win will be No. 400 of his memorable career.

If the Sartans return to the district tournament title game, it will be the fourth straight year they've done so. Yet a win would be their first.

"We are the Buffalo Bills of district championship games," said Segura, referring to the NFL franchise which lost four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s. "If we get the opportunity to host one it's going to be different for us."

Segura can speak with such confidence because St. Pius X has shown a penchant for crunch-time wins. The Sartans added another example in their latest victory over the Chargers.

St. Pius X sealed a back-and-forth game with clutch shots in the final quarter. Jessen scored eight of his 16 points in the fourth, including a pair of 3-pointers. Johansen capped his 16-point, 12-rebound night with seven seconds left, drilling two free throws to effectively end Academy's hopes.

The Sartans shredded Academy's zone defense by making nine threes, six in the second half.

"That was huge for us because getting it out of those trees is tough," Segura said of Academy's taller defenders, which had given St. Pius X trouble this season.

St. Pius X's nimbleness in tight games should be tested in the coming weeks. District and state tournaments are known - and loved - for that.

Johansen and Jessen aren't too concerned.

"It's emotional," Johansen said. "But this team, we've been through it before. We've won close games in the past, big games."

Jessen credits the daily grind of Segura's practices for making the Sartans game-tough.

The razzing helps too.

Said Jessen: "It kind of drives us to get better."