The Coronado Leopards picked up three victories last week heading into their District 2AA opener.
The biggest victory was a 71-55 defeat of Peñasco (15-5) Jan. 26 in Gallina.
“We felt like every team we’ve beaten is a team people said we were supposed to beat,” Coronado coach Ezau Rios said. “That put a chip on our shoulder when we played Peñasco.”
The Panthers had beaten Coronado 68-61 just 17 days earlier in the championship game of the Northern Rio Grande Tournament in Pojoaque. Coronado needed a victory over the Panthers to show it was more contender than pretender.
A key to the victory was putting 6-foot-3-inch post Pedro Valdez on 5-foot-6-inch Peñasco point guard Gerrick Romero. Valdez kept the dangerous Romero in check, holding him to under 10 points.
“The first time (Romero) drove, Pedro blocked him,” Rios said. “He became hesitant after that.”
The Leopards raced out to a 21-8 lead in the first quarter and were up 31-19 at halftime. Johnny Chavez had 21 points and Valdez 17 for the Leopards.
Coronado toyed with Jemez Valley (3-9) in its next game, beating the Warriors 58-20 Jan. 27 in Gallina. In their final game of the week, the Leopards took on Monte del Sol (5-14) Jan. 29 at home. Coronado destroyed the Dragons 70-39 to improve to 16-3 on the season.
The Leopards will take on three District 2AA opponents in five days in the coming week. After opening Tuesday in Farmington against Navajo Prep, Coronado travels Friday to Dulce and hosts Escalanre Saturday.
In Class AA, a team must finish either first or second in district play to advance to the state tournament.
“We’ve been working the whole year to get ready for this,” Rios said. “Now we’re 0-0 and ready to go win six games (in District 2AA).”