The Española Valley Sundevils were determined to come out strong against the Los Alamos Hilltoppers Feb. 27 in the District 2AAAA championship game in Española.
The Sundevils surged to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter on their way to a 75-57 victory. Española claimed their fourth straight district tournament title. The Sundevils had captured the district regular season title with a victory over Los Alamos just over a week earlier and have now beaten Los Alamos three times.
With the win, Española received the second seed in the Class AAAA state tournament. Española has been the first seed for the past two years, but defending Class AAAA champion Roswell has held onto the top spot since the beginning of this season. Española hosts 15th-seeded Valencia Saturday at 7 p.m. in an opening round game.
“We’re no longer the little dog on the side of the road; we’re veterans at this now, “ Martinez said. “I’m older and wiser than I was a year ago.”
Senior forward Luis Alvarado and junior guard Rodney Coles each scored 20 points for the Sundevils in the district title game. Coles started the game with a three-pointer and had 10 points in the first quarter. Sundevil senior post Gabriel Rodriguez scored 11 points in the second quarter and more than held his own against the Hilltoppers’ Alex Kirk, even though he was giving up seven inches to the 6-foot, 11-inch star.
“He tends to stay inside and leave me open,” Rodriguez said. “I know I can hit those shots, and when he comes out we can take it to the basket.”
Kirk had scored 44 points against the Sundevils Feb. 20 in a 74-71 Española victory at Española. This time around, the Sundevils went with a man-to-man defense to put more pressure on the Hilltoppers’ guards while using juniors Fabian Valdez and Zac Trujillo to get physical with Kirk. Valdez and Trujillo both fouled out, but they held him to 21 points.
“When you work a guy that much in the paint and the perimeter, you create problems,” Española coach Richard Martinez said.
The Sundevils led 41-26 at halftime and took their biggest lead of the game, 69-45, in the fourth quarter after an 11-2 run.
Rodriguez finished with 18 points and Aaron Aragon added 11 for the Sundevils. Junior Richie Mondragon, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury suffered Feb. 13 against Hope Christian, accepted the District 2AAAA championship trophy. He is expected back Saturday for the opening round of the Class AAAA state tournament.
“He’s been a big part of the team,” Martinez said. “We wanted to be sure he got the trophy.”
Martinez said his team needed to come out hard at the beginning of the game after Sundevils had fallen behind Los Alamos 26-11 in the Feb. 20 game. In a 60-50 loss Feb. 13 to Hope Christan, Española trailed 16-9 at the end of the first quarter. Martinez had shown his team films of both games prior to the district title contest with Los Alamos.
“You can tell them until you’re blue in the face, but when they see it on film, they see you’re right,” Martinez said. “How you jump out is very important.”