The Española Valley Sundevils rebounded last week from consecutive home losses with two road victories in District 3AA.
The first win was a 103-87 blow-out Feb. 4 over Bernalillo. The Sundevils were red hot against the Spartans and had four players fire in double-digit points. Donovan Maldonado led the way with 22 points, while Aaron Aragon and Matt Brito each had 18 points. Ray Romero chipped in with 10 points for the Sundevils.
“We were throwing up three-pointers in that fourth period trying to break 100,” junior guard Ryan Salazar said.
Española led 25-10 after the first quarter and 50-33 at halftime. The Sundevils scored 29 points in the fourth quarter.
After racking up so may points against the Spartans, the Sundevils turned to their defense when they took on Capital High School Feb. 7 in Santa Fe.
“We were really aggressive,” Salazar said. “We kind of wanted a win after what happened with Los Alamos.”
After the Sundevils had lost to Los Alamos 59-53 Jan. 31 at Española, the Hilltoppers had been beaten by Capital 61-58 Feb. 4 in Los Alamos. A victory over the Sundevils would have thrown Capital in the race for the district title.
A victory over the Sundevils has proven elusive for the Jaguars. Española had won 10 straight games over Capital since 2007 and had already beaten the Jaguars three times this season. The streak was extended to 11 consecutive games and four this season after Española’s 55-39 victory.
The Sundevils forced eight turnovers in the first quarter and took a 14-7 lead after Daniel Archuleta’s three-point play.
Neither team showed much offense in the second quarter, but the Sundevils stayed ahead by forcing six more turnovers and shooting 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. The Jaguars were just 3-of-6 from the line and trailed 25-14 at halftime.
Capital cut into Española’s lead in the third quarter and trailed by just seven points at the end of the third quarter. A basket by Albert Prada to begin the fourth quarter made the score 36-31 in favor of the Sundevils.
That’s when the Sundevils’ full-court trap defense unleashed a tidal wave of turnovers that overwhelmed the Jaguars.
Brito began the onslaught with a steal and layup. Rodney Coles had the ball taken from him by Capital in the lane, but stole it right back and made a layup. Romero stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made another layup for a 43-32 Española lead.
With Española leading 47-36 and four minutes left in the game, the Sundevils spread the offense and ran time from the clock. The Jaguars ran all over the court trying to catch up to the ball, but in the end Luis Alvarado had an opening and drove in for a layup to give Española a 13-point lead that seemed to take whatever wind Capital had left in their sails away.
“They were overplaying on defense ,” Alvarado said. “I just saw a big hole and penetrated.”
Alvarado finished with 14 points to lead the Sundevils. Brito added 11 points for Española, while Capital did not have a player reach double figures in scoring.
Capital fell to 2-3 in District 2AAAA, while the Sundevils improved to 4-1 in district play and 19-4 overall.
The Sundevils hosted Taos Tuesday in its next District 2AAAA game and will have a chance to avenge they loss to Los Alamos Feb. 18 when they travel to Los Alamos.