Lady Bobcats on the Rise
After just six varsity games, the McCurdy Bobcats have matched their win total, not just from last year, but from the last three seasons combined.
They won a total of three games stretched across that timeline. Now, under new coach Joseph Brooks, they already have three wins. That does not even count the two wins they recorded at the Santa Fe Indian School C-team tournament. And that comes while often seeing three or more freshmen on the floor.
Their most recent win came in the seventh-place game at the Northern Rio Grande Tournament, 38-34 over Mora (4-6), their first win at the tournament since 2019, led by 16 points from freshman Amy Anaya. The Bobcats trailed much of the game after giving up the first seven points. But from down 11-3 in the second quarter, McCurdy went on a 25-3 run through the third quarter.
“I don’t think we were confident enough,” said senior Andrea Croff. “When everyone starts having fun, we start enjoying the game more.”
Croff has gone from not playing basketball since elementary school to becoming a starting forward on the team. Her friend, Mariana Arambula, the team’s starting center, encouraged Croff to come out for her senior year. She said that early in the season, she “was feeling down” with a lack of playing time. But she quickly earned a starting role.
“She’s an athletic person,” Brooks said. “She has a lack of basketball experience, but she’s working hard every day trying to learn. She takes information very positively.”
Croff said there is a role reversal on the team where the more experienced freshmen lead her and teach her new skills.
“Our friendship is growing more and expanding more,” she said.
Third Place Game Delivers Excitement
The game of the week came on Saturday afternoon, a triple overtime thriller between two strong teams.
Pecos (7-6) and Peñasco battled for 44 minutes with three extra periods before the Panthers, the Pecos ones that is, finished on top 68-66, with almost one-third of their points coming after the fourth-quarter buzzer. Pecos took the win, and the third-place NRG trophy.
The game was tied at 43, when Pecos’ Natalia Stout and Peñasco’s Rochelle Lopez traded 3-pointers. Stout missed a shot, but Peñasco turned the ball over. Pecos’ buzzer-beater looked good at first, but just hit too close to the front edge of the rim, and didn’t fall.
In overtime number one, Peñasco led, but Pecos’ Rayne Dimas hit a layup as time expired. Two overtimes.
Peñasco trailed by four, but came back as Lopez made a three-point play. But while leading by two with 20 seconds left, Peñasco missed two free throws, opening the door. And this time it was Brianna Bustos who hit a runner for Pecos with six seconds left. Peñasco could not get a clean look after the inbound. Three overtimes.
The game was tied with 46 seconds left, when Stout stole a ball, missed a shot, grabbed a rebound, and made the putback. Peñasco missed their shot, and Pecos won the game.
Oh, and these two teams will rematch on Thursday. Will Act II bring as much thrill?
McCurdy Star Hits 1,000 Points
The team’s coaches tried to hide from Lucas Martinez how many points he had in his career, and how close he was to 1,000. Avoid a distraction.
“We’ve kept it away from him, that way he wouldn’t know when it was going to happen,” said McCurdy coach Ernesto Espinoza.
But Martinez, a longtime team leader, said he already knew.
“I added up my points a couple weeks ago,” he said. “I knew that I was pretty close, and I figured I’d get it this tournament.”
Martinez reached the mark as part of a 20-point effort in a McCurdy (4-4) win over Mesa Vista (2-4) in the first round of the Northern Rio Grande Tournament on Thursday, taking the win 70-68. After hitting 1,000 points, it was a non-scoring play that was his most important. McCurdy ultimately finished third in the tournament with a strong weekend.
After missing a crucial free throw (going one of two), Martinez and McCurdy gave the Trojans a chance to tie or take the lead with 13 seconds left. But Martinez jumped into a passing lane, grabbing the ball to seal a victory.
“He read it perfect,” Espinoza said. “That’s just a guy that has experience and he sees stuff.”
Before that play, he had caught fire in the third quarter, where he scored 12 of his 20 points in the game.
“I just wanted to take a lead, as a team we needed to take a lead,” Martinez said. “Get the game under control.”