The Pojoaque Elkettes held on to their perfect record and claimed the District 2AAA championship Feb. 28 after a nail-biting final minute against the West Las Vegas Lady Dons.
“We knew that West (Las Vegas) was gonna come out strong,” senior guard Ellen Cruz said.
Pojoaque scored the first seven points of the game and never lost the lead, but the Dons hustled and kept things interesting. Behind strong three-point shooting, West Las Vegas trailed by four at the half and then narrowed the margin to just two points with 49 seconds remaining in the game.
Luckily for Pojoaque, the Dons couldn’t close the deal — two missed free throws, a dead-on three-pointer launched just after a referee’s timeout whistle and a last-second turnover all combined to save a 62-59 win for the Elkettes at home.
Elkettes’ Senior post Jackie Bartleson, who led her team’s scoring with 14 points, said the tense last minute didn’t phase her.
“As a team, we know not to get nervous,” Bartleson said. “We try to stay composed.”
Bartleson certainly knows something about composure. Eight of her points came from free throws, and she shot a dangerous 70 percent from the line. She said the pressure and the noise of the packed gym didn’t bother her.
“I don’t really think about it,” Bartleson said. “I just try to stay focused on my form.”
Bartleson, a transfer from Santa Fe High School, said she’s pretty confident about her free-throw shooting ability. When she was 10, she finished second in a national junior free-throw tournament, she said.
Along with Bartleson’s scoring, Pojoaque also relied on 11 points each from senior forward Janelle Roybal and junior guard Marissa Romero, and 10 points from Cruz. But nearly every Elkette contributed points — with three starters in foul trouble in the first half, the team relied heavily on its bench throughout the game.
Pojoaque coach Lanse Carter said he was proud of his team’s composure.
“It was a hard-fought ball game,” Carter said.
Carter said he was more concerned about the Dons’ ability to drive on the Elkette defense, and he plans to run some footwork drills this week to get his players ready for the upcoming state tournament.
The Elkettes are the defending state champions and will host Wingate High School, the 16th-seed in Friday’s opening round of the state tournament.
“I think we just keep repeating what we’re doing,” Carter said. “We don’t want to reinvent anything.”