The old basketball adage is simple: when the outside shot isn’t falling, take the ball to the basket, get a foul and get to the free throw line.
The Española Valley High School girls basketball team followed that adage in the second half of their come-from-behind 48-41 victory over visiting Clovis High School Dec. 8 inside Edward Medina Gymnasium.
3-point shots were flying at a premium for the Lady Sundevils (3-2) in the first half, but the invisible lid on the basket kept a majority of them out and an inconsistent offensive performance left Española trailing 21-12 at halftime to the Lady Wildcats (2-2).
The Lady Sundevils changed the game plan in the second half and converted on three consecutive layups to start the third quarter, including a 3-point play by Anita DeAguero.
With momentum already shifting Española’s way, Kaylee Chavez drained a 3-pointer to bring the Lady Sundevils within three at 28-25.
Clovis responded behind strong play from Mikyla Hakrley and Antanishwa Molett, who scored eight of the 12 points for the Lady Wildcats in the third quarter, helping Clovis maintain the lead, 33-27 heading into the fourth quarter.
Things were just getting started for Española in the fourth, and Chavez stepped up her game amidst a 12-0 Lady Sundevils run to begin the quarter.
“We came out flat-footed at first,” Chavez said about the first half. “In the locker room, coach pumped us up a little bit and when we got back out here, we said we weren’t going to lose and we gave it all we had.”
She scored six of the 12 points in the run, resulting from a strong drive to the hoop, plus the foul and on a 3-point shot that pushed Española’s lead to 39-33 with just over five minutes remaining.
Sophomore Destiny Valdez also came alive in the second half — scoring all 10 of her points — and it was her 3-point shot that extended the Lady Sundevil lead to 42-35 with 3:52 left, allowing Española to play keep away from the Lady Wildcats after that to run out as much clock as they could.
After scoring six points apiece in the first and second quarters, Española outscored Clovis 36-20 in the second half. Annabelle Martinez had a game-high 13 points for Clovis, but 11 of those came in the first half.
Española’s willingness to get into the paint helped the offensive output blossom and 3-point shots started falling in rhythm.
“We’re gonna shoot a lot of 3’s, there’s no doubt about it,” Española head coach Joe Estrada said. “We’re a damn good 3-point shooting team but we just weren’t tonight. We got to realize if they’re not falling, we need to get some easy shots and get to the free throw line. We did a better job of it in the second half and then we started hitting some 3’s.”
Chavez scored a team-high 11 points for Española (all in the second half) in the team’s second come-from-behind win trailing by double-digits. The Lady Sundevils erased an 18-point deficit Dec. 1 against Grants in the Al Armendariz tournament at Capital High School.
“We started having more confidence in each other and ourselves,” Chavez said about the comeback against Clovis. “We started hitting more outside shots and that came from our aggressiveness (going inside).”
The defense also stepped up the intensity in the second half. While Española went on their 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter, Clovis turned the ball over on their first four possessions to help aid the run.
“Defense really kept us hanging around that game, most of the way,” Estrada said. “We started picking up the pressure and stopped reaching so much. We moved back a little and kept the ball in front of us and did a better job defending the ball.”
Clovis had to travel nearly 10 hours round trip for the matchup, a similar circumstance that Española had to endure on their road trip Dec. 4 to Miyamura High School in Gallup. The Lady Sundevils lost that contest 48-47 after a bad pass inside the paint during the final seconds left them without an opportunity to put up a potential game-winning shot.
“That was a great game, man,” Estrada said. “Miyamura is a quality team. It was a long bus ride and we got back at 2:30 in the morning.”
Española had another long trip Tuesday to Kirtland Central, but those results were not available by press time. They will lace it up again this Thursday (12/13) through Saturday at the Rio Rancho Tournament.