In January, Mesa Vista came to Tierra Amarilla and won both boys and girls games for the first time in years. This week, Escalante returned the favor.
The Lobos spoiled homecoming in Ojo Caliente with a pair of wins on Thursday, flipping the script from their meeting three weeks earlier
The Escalante girls (16-7, 7-1 in district) won their fifth straight game with a nailbiter to beat the Lady Trojans (21-3, 7-1) 46-45 on Feb. 9 and tie them for the top of the district.
“We played a solid four quarters,” said Escalante coach Bryan Gonzales.
The gym was packed to the brim the whole night, and the parking lot was backed up all the way to the school entrance.
“We all came together with heart, intensity, and a bunch of energy,” Escalante senior Katelyn Hinds said. “I hope we just continue to win.”
Both teams were banged up in the game: Escalante was missing point guard Cipriana Garcia, and starting guard Journey Trejo went down in the first few minutes with a scary head injury. Mesa Vista had several players battling illnesses, and Amarissa Quintana was carried off the court late in the game with a Charley Horse injury, though she recovered and played in the team’s next game.
Mesa Vista coach Jesse Boies said the homecoming that night distracted the team at times.
“Our girls kind of were in two places at once,” he said. “You know how it goes when you’re a teenager, it’s homecoming night, you’re excited … Escalante came to play, they were ready.”
Escalante led by 10 points with less than five minutes left, but Mesa Vista battled to force a tie late in the game. In the final minute, Brycelyn Martinez drew a foul and hit 1-of-2 free throws to take the lead, and ultimately hold off the Trojans for the win, giving them just their third loss of the season.
“It feels really good,” Gonzales said. “We’ve had a lot of stuff going on lately with injuries and everything. Just like everybody else. But these girls have put in a lot of work. And the hard work played out.”
The Trojans kept missing close shots the whole game that kept bouncing off. They could not sink 3-pointers, they could not get a layup.
“We could not buy a basket for the life of us,” Boies said. “It was just one of those games where there was a lid on the goal.”
Now, those opportunities were not easy to come by, because Escalante’s defense was like a wall the whole game. They were there to defend most every shot, and held Mesa Vista to just 45 points.
Escalante was strong on offense, sneaking around the defense at every turn. They were able to get free layups in the paint most of the game.
When Lady Lobo starters got into foul trouble later in the game, the bench stepped up to close out a win. Hannah Lopez, who has had limited playing time most of the year, had the biggest game of her career with eight points.
“Everybody that went in contributed in some way,” Gonzales said.
Martinez was the team leader with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Boies said the loss helped to refocus the team for the rest of the season after ending an eight-game win streak.
If both teams win their final two district games, as they are favored to do, they will play for a third time in a district tiebreaker game, before also potentially meeting in the district tournament and state tournament.
The Escalante boys (16-7, 7-1) won their sixth-straight game and avenged a Jan. 21 loss with a road win at Mesa Vista (13-11, 6-2) and took over first place in the district.
Jordan Cervantes and Quintana were homecoming king and queen at halftime of the boys game.
The Trojans led by three at halftime, but Escalante took the lead in the third quarter of a back-and-forth game. In the closing seconds, Mesa Vista had the ball with a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but failed to get a shot off.
“The extra motivation was trying to beat them on their home court, because they beat us on our home court,” Escalante coach Isaac Royston said.
Jordan Gallegos scored 17 for Mesa Vista, and Cervantes scored 15. Luka Torrez scored 17 to lead the Lobos, and gathered 12 rebounds.