The Dulce High School Lady Hawks got back from their Nov. 28 basketball game against Questa High School at 2 a.m., Nov. 29. They had a full school day and practice, before jumping into the three-game, Santa Fe Indian School tournament the next day, Nov. 30.
“I’m tired, I’m not lying,” Dulce head coach Stanford Salazar said at the conclusion of the tournament.
Sophomore Caitlin Duncan said she was “tired and frustrated,” as the tournament ground to a halt.
After winning their first pair of games against Navajo Preparatory School, from Farmington, and To’hajiilee Community School, near Laguna Pueblo, the Lady Hawks advanced to the tournament championship game, Dec. 2, against Santa Fe Indian School.
They came away from the game with a runner-up trophy, losing to the Lady Braves by a score of 46-38. Sophomore Brannon Vigil was named an all-tourney player and she received an individual medal for her performances on the court.
“I told the girls, now, to keep their heads up,” Salazar said. “Because, this is only our fourth game … It’s a learning experience right now — being a first year coach and being in a championship game right away.”
Santa Fe Indian School built a significant early lead, as they moved the ball quickly to open layups and hit some crucial three-pointers. At the beginning of the second quarter, they put down one three-pointer, which launched their lead over Dulce to 12 points, at 19-7.
The Lady Hawks narrowed the scoreline as the clock began to reach halftime, and as they entered the locker room, they were down by seven, at 23-16.
Following the break, they started to look reenergized.
Brannon Vigil and Brooke Vigil drained a couple of crucial shots and Brannon Vigil banked a three-pointer to close the gap between the two teams, at 31-28, going into the fourth quarter.
Brannon Vigil had six points, all of those coming in the third quarter, and Brooke Vigil finished with 10 points, with eight of those in the second half.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Jaelyn Reval found an opportunity to give Dulce the lead.
She drew a foul and made two free-throws to make the score 32-31, in Dulce’s favor. It did not take long, though, for the Lady Braves to pry the lead back, and they scored seven unanswered points.
The Lady Hawks could not steal the lead back for the remainder of the game and a few low buckets were not enough to earn them a tournament victory.
“It shows us that, in the tournaments, we can win two good games, but we’ve got to still finish and play that last one,” Salazar said.
Duncan finished as the highest scorer for the Lady Hawks, and netted 12 points.
Despite that performance, she was not satisfied with the final outcome, feeling there were some unnecessary turnovers and sloppy plays that needed to be accounted for.
“I played OK, but could’ve done better,” she said.
Salazar was not overly concerned with the result of that championship game, as he felt his players had already proved themselves against Navajo Prep and To’hajiilee and were spent, going into the final game.
Last season, Navajo Prep made it farther than Dulce in the state tournament, going to the quarterfinals, before losing to Shiprock High School.
“Beating a team like (Navajo) Prep, it is big,” Salazar said. “(Head coach) Rainy (Crisp) runs a good program and they are always one of the elite teams in the state. It kind of put a feather in our hat.”