The Española Valley Sundevils held off St. Michael’s Jan. 7 in the fourth quarter of the championship game of the Horsemen’s tournament in Santa Fe to capture the title with a 54-44 victory.
“St. Mikes ain’t going to roll over,” Española coach Richard Martinez said. “They’re going to keep taking it at you.”
Española led 45-35 at 3:27 of the fourth quarter when Sundevil senior Juan Trujillo was whistled for a foul on Wesley Vaughan. Trujillo didn’t like the call and was hit with a technical foul. Vaughan knocked in four straight free throws — two for the foul and two for the technical — as the Horsemen retained possession of the ball. Justin Smith followed with a driving layup that cut the Sundevils’ lead to 45-41 with 3:22 left.
After a pair of free throws by Española’s Rodney Coles, Vaughan buried a three-pointer to make the score 47-44 at 2:35 of the fourth quarter. The Sundevils missed a shot at the other end, and St. Michael’s regained possession with a chance to tie the game.
“We had to get a stop on that particular play,” Coles said. “We needed to get the momentum back and not let their crowd back into it.”
The Horsemen passed the ball around looking for an opening in the tight Española defense. The Sundevils finally forced a turnover with 1:37 left to play, On Española’s possession, Coles drove through a crease in the Horsemen’s right side and sank a layup that gave Española a 49-44 lead with 53 seconds left.
Coles, who led all scorers with 17 points, put away the game in the closing seconds by making 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final 40 seconds.
“Before I step to the line, I step back and focus on the rim,” Coles said. “When it comes state time, free throws can hurt you badly at the Pit.”
Española had tried to put away St. Michael’s in the second quarter, but shot after shot by the Sundevils rattled out of the basket. Luis Alvarado’s miss on a breakaway dunk epitomized the Sundevils’ shooting woes as the Sundevils clung to a 25-19 lead at halftime.
“We were getting the good looks we wanted,” Martinez said. ”The shots just weren’t going in.”
To get to the finals, Española defeated Cleveland 87-70 Jan. 5 in the opening round of the tournament and beat Wingate 82-57 Jan. 6 in the semifinals.
The Sundevils outscored Cleveland 48-36 in the second half. Coles and Alvarado each scored 20 points to lead the Sundevils. It was Española’s second straight victory over Cleveland. The Sundevils defeated the Storm in the championship game of the New Mexico Oil and Gas tournament Dec. 30 on the Storm’s home-court in Rio Rancho.
Wingate trailed Española by only two points at halftime in the semifinal game. The Sundevils buried the Bears in the second half, scoring 29 points in the third quarter and pulling away for a 25-point victory. Gabriel Rodriguez led the Sundevils with 27 points. The 6-foot-4-inch Rodriguez dominated inside against the smaller Wingate team.
District Play
The Sundevils open District 2AAAA play Wednesday (1/13) at 7 p.m. by hosting the Taos Tigers. Taos is 4-8 on the season. The Tigers are coached by James Branch, who was McCurdy’s girls basketball coach during the 2006-2007 season before leaving to become athletic director at Taos. He became the boys basketball coach this season.
Española’s game against Piedra Vista scheduled for Friday has been cancelled.