The Mesa Vista Lady Trojans beat three Class AAA schools last week on their way to winning the Cuba Invitational Tournament.
Mesa Vista defeated host Cuba 79-47 Jan. 16 in the championship game.
The Trojans’ entire starting five — Crystal Martinez, Julia Martinez, Muriah Dean, Samantha Giron and Carmelita Trujillo — were named to the all-tournament team and Trujillo took home most valuable player honors.
“They don’t like to lose,” Mesa Vista coach Richard Montoya said. “They’re feeling it now.”
Trujillo led the Trojans with 29 points against the Lady Rams. Julia Martinez hauled in 18 rebounds and scored 20 points, while Crystal Martinez added 13 points.
The road to the championship was tougher than the title game turned out to be. The Trojans met the Newcomb Lady Skyhawks Jan. 14 in the opening round. Newcomb had defeated Mesa Vista at the Cuba Invitational the last two years, and Montoya requested that this year the Trojans face Newcomb again.
“When they asked me why, I said, ‘Because I think we can beat them,’” Montoya said. “To be the best you got to beat the best.”
For three quarters it looked like Montoya would regret his decision. The Skyhawks held a 14-point lead at one point and led 45-40 going into the fourth quarter. Bridgette Lee, Newcomb’s 6-foot-3-inch freshman post, gave Mesa Vista headaches.
“We started doubling up on her,” Montoya said. “We’d press and then fall back. Our shots started falling and we got a couple of nice layups off our press.
The Trojans outscored the Skyhawks 17-5 in the fourth quarter to win 57-50. Crystal Martinez led the Trojans with 20 points, while Trujillo and Giron each had 12 points.
“That game helped us big time,” Montoya said. “We were able to come back against a good team.”
The Trojans defeated Bloomfield 66-36 Jan. in the semifinals. Mesa Vista exploded for 25 points in the first quarter and led 38-20 at halftime.
“We jumped on them right away, and they couldn’t get out of it,” Montoya said.
The Trojans had four players in double figures, led by Crystal Martinez’s 19 points. Trujillo had 13 points, while Dean added 12 and Julia Martinez 10 for the Trojans.
The Trojans have not won a district title in at least 13 years. The Peñasco Lady Panthers have won four straight District 3AA titles and Montoya considers them the favorites.
“Peñasco will have everybody back by district time and it will be a tough game when we meet them,” Montoya said. “Questa looks better. It’s hard to get to state from this district.”
Boys
The Coronado Leopards won the boys championship at the Cuba Invitational, defeating the host Rams 36-21 Jan. 16 in the championship game. Coronado defeated two junior varsity teams on its way to the title.