12/18/08
The Northern Rio Grande Tournament ended Dec. 13 with the Mora Rangers beating McCurdy,. The four-day tournament at McCurdy provided plenty of surprises for eight of Northern New Mexico’s Class AA teams.
The top-seeded Mesa Vista Trojans lost to McCurdy 53-45 Dec. 12 in the semifinals.
Second-seeded Coronado lost to Mora 48-38 Dec. 12 in the semifinals. Because of a power outage Dec. 11 at McCurdy, Coronado had to play two games on the same day. The Leopards had defeated Dulce 55-39 Dec. 12 in the earlier game. Matilda Gallegos led the Leopards with 15 points, Stephany Velasquez and Angie Schmitz each had 10 points for Coronado.
Mora, who defeated Escalante 50-23 in the opening round Dec. 12, also had to play two games on the same day. The Rangerettes’ Melanie Romo had 16 points against both the Lobos and the Leopards to lead Mora.
The following are recaps of other opening round games in the tournament.
Behind a trio of double-digit scorers, the Coronado Lady Leopards beat the Dulce Lady Hawks 55-39 Dec. 12 in the opening round of the Northern Rio Grande Invitational at McCurdy School.
Stephany Velasquez and Matilda Gallegos each scored 14 points to lead the Leopards, who improved to 4-1 on the season. Angie Schmitz added 13 points for Coronado.
“We have to pressure people full court because we can’t stop anybody half court,” said Coronado coach Kamau Turner, who was on crutches because of a torn Achilles tendon.
Dulce cut the deficit to two points after three-pointers by Kaitlyn Vigil and Sharlee Garcia. However, Velasquez converted two layups in the final 40 seconds of the first half off Hawk turnovers to give the Leopards a 24-18 lead at halftime. Velasquez scored 10 points in the second quarter.
The Hawks narrowed the lead to three points in the third quarter, but another Leopard run of 13-3 gave Coronado a 43-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Coronado eventually extended its lead to 19 points and coasted to victory. Turner, in his third year at Coronado, was not satisfied with the victory.
“We didn’t play very well, and I didn’t like our effort,” he said.
The Mesa Vista Lady Trojans have been the District 3AA doormats since joining the district in 2004. On the other hand, the Peñasco Lady Panthers have dominated District 3AA on their way to winning three consecutive championships.
At the Northern Rio Grande Invitational tournament Dec. 10 at McCurdy School, however, it was the 6-1 Trojans who were the top seed taking on the 0-5 Panthers, who were seeded at the bottom in the eight-team field.
The Trojans lived up to their seeding early in the game when they led Peñasco 14-2 in the first quarter. But the game turned into a cliffhanger by the fourth quarter with the score tied 48-48 with 41 seconds left to play.
Carmelita Trujillo had carried the Trojans throughout the second half by scoring 17 points and going 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Her biggest basket came with 30 seconds left when she sank a short shot in the paint that gave the Trojans a 50-48 lead.
The drama wasn’t over, as Peñasco’s Kim Vigil made two trips to the free-throw line in the final eight seconds of the game. She was only able to sink 1-of-4 free throws as the curtain came down on Mesa Vista’s 50-49 victory.
The McCurdy Lady Bobcats blitzed the Pecos Panthers in the first quarter of their opening game matchup Dec. 10 at the Northern Rio Grande girls basketball tournament at McCurdy.
The Bobcats jumped to a 20-7 lead over the shell-shocked Panthers and extended their lead to 38-19 by halftime. However, in the third quarter, Pecos shaved 11 points from McCurdy’s lead. The Panthers trailed by eight points heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats shook off their slump and pulled away from Pecos in the fourth quarter to take a 56-42 victory and advance to the semifinals.
“We play two or three good quarters, but don’t close it out,” McCurdy coach Johnny Abeyta said.
Senior 6-foot post Brenda Avila led the charge in the first half by scoring eight points in the first quarter and six more in the second to tally 14 points in the first half and 18 overall.