Life Skills student Rudy Martinez scores first bucket in Sundevils’ 70-57 win over Pojoaque
Sure, earning a 13-point win over one of your rivals and starting District 2-4A play on the right foot was important, and the goal, but sometimes there’s more pressing issues than basketball.
Not only did the night of Jan. 23 feature a win for the Española Valley High School boys basketball team, but there was also a special moment that took place Rudy Martinez will never forget.
As Española hosted Pojoaque Valley High School to begin District play, chants of “Rudy, Rudy, Rudy” began to fill Edward Medina Gymnasium as the Sundevils and Elks prepared for the opening tip.
Martinez, an Española student who participates in Life Skills and whose disability prevents him from speaking, was on the floor as a part of the Sundevils’ starting five, and both teams agreed to allow Española to win the tip and have the Sundevils escort Martinez down the court to score the opening bucket of the game.
He did so successfully after a couple shots from the paint, which ignited cheers from the large crowd in attendance.
“I was very happy for him and that was a big moment,” Española head coach Gabe Martinez said. “Sometimes things are bigger than basketball and I thought that moment was bigger than basketball. That moment was huge for him and it’s a great moment for him and his family.”
If there’s any way to grab a basketball coach’s attention, it’s showing off your ability to shoot the ball. Rudy Martinez is a Life Skills student in coach Martinez’s class, and one day, coach Martinez couldn’t help but notice Rudy Martinez’s silky touch with the ball in his hands.
“I started watching him and he had a ball probably about 5 feet away from the basket,” coach Martinez said. “He made 17 shots in a row and I went over there and said, ‘Rudy, do you like basketball?’ Rudy is nonverbal, but oh boy did his eyes light up.”
From there, coach Martinez spearheaded the idea to get Rudy Martinez involved, and eventually awarded him a varsity warmup suit, a spot on the basketball team and the eventual opportunity to score the first points of the game against Pojoaque.
After Rudy Martinez’s shot made its way through the net, the scorers table adjusted the score to 2-2 and the Sundevils and Elks were off and rolling.
Despite Española’s inability to score the ball from the field in the second and fourth quarters, the Class 4A seventh ranked Sundevils (11-7) used a big third quarter to push past the Elks (6-13) to win 70-57.
The Sundevils led by as many as 20 points (52-32) with a minute left in the third quarter after a layup by Jordan Duda, but Española would have to test its ability at the free throw line in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.
Although not with flying colors, it was a test they would pass. The Sundevils made 16-of-24 free throws over the final eight minutes, good enough to make up for an 0-of-7 mark from the field in the fourth.
“There was an abundance of foul calls,” coach Martinez said. “There was one point where they (Pojoaque) made some shots and made four free throws in a row because they were in the double bonus and there was a technical called on us, they cut it to 16 and then down to 12. From there, the free throw marathon began.”
In all, there was a staggering total of 44 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. Pojoaque was able to sink 12-of-20, and the Elks cut the lead to 60-56 after a free throw by Zach Hall with 2 minutes, 26 seconds remaining. From that point, Pojoaque was outscored 10-2 the rest of the way.
Española used a 22-4 run in the third quarter to separate itself after the score was 30-25 in the Sundevils’ favor at halftime. Garrett May carried Española with a game-high 28 points, and he nailed two big triples amid the run, with the second from the left wing with 4:49 remaining in the third giving the Sundevils 10 points in succession.
Defense also played a major part, as the Elks struggled to take care of the ball against Española’s suffocating 3/4 court press, which caused major issues over the first three quarters or so.
“Our boys are running it really well,” coach Martinez said. “I told Garrett after the game, ‘You do a hell of a job at the top of that.’ He’s long and lanky and he gets a lot of tips on the balls. In the first half, we couldn’t buy a bucket, so we came in at halftime and I told the boys, ‘You hear the crowd yelling at you. You’re shooters, and what do shooters do? They shoot.’”
The team responded, and the 6-of-8 effort in the third quarter was Española’s finest shooting the ball, perfectly timed after coach Martinez’s halftime speech. The second quarter was quite the opposite, as Española missed its first 11 field goal attempts and ended the quarter with a 3-of-21 mark.
That type of cold shooting resurfaced in the fourth quarter, but overall, coach Martinez was satisfied with what his team showed in the District opener from an overall stand point — and of course, seeing Rudy Martinez flourish in his moment.
“If I had to say anything about tonight, the game was good, we battled back and had a lead,” coach Martinez said. “It would have been nice to gap and pull away, but the biggest thing for me is the celebration of Rudy; he deserves his little bit of limelight. I’m very proud of him and he did a great job.”
Duda added 20 points for Española and Lukas Archibeque paced Pojoaque with a team-high 13.
Española improved to 2-0 in District play after defeating Moriarty High School 64-57 on the road on Jan. 25. The Sundevils hosted Los Alamos High School Tuesday, but the result was not available by press time.