The Lady Lobos were in for a rebuilding year.
After the graduation of six seniors, including the five leading scorers and four all-state players, the few returning players, along with a new group, were going to have to find ways to step up.
The Escalante Lady Lobos (4-8) have been slow out of the gates this season, after two years where they reached the state final. But they are working on improving with a young group, led by newer senior leaders. That group took sixth place at the Northern Rio Grande Tournament on Jan. 4-6, with one win and two losses.
“We started off a little slow,” Escalante Coach Alex Marquez said. “But I think we’re finally starting to get something going.”
The Lady Lobos, entering the the Northern Rio Grande Tournament as the No. 8 seed, gave top-seeded Mesa Vista (10-2), the tournament champions, a tougher battle than either team may have expected before ultimately losing 67-50.
Mesa Vista won the tip and scored the first points, then jumped out to a 13-4 lead. But Escalante wouldn’t let the game get out of hand, and a strong 20-point effort in the second quarter had them within six points.
After the half, they jumped out with the first seven points, taking a lead on Hanah Lopez’s layup. Mesa Vista responded, and closed the game strong, but the point was made. (Escalante’s two senior captains fouled out in the closing minutes as Mesa Vista grew its lead.)
Ashley Gilmore, who scored just six points all of last year, had a big game with 12 points. Jayden Macias scored nine.
In the consolation round, Escalante came out on top over Mora (4-6) with a 40-35 overtime win.
“We’re a little bit disappointed in ourselves,” said junior starting center Keelin Faulkner. “But we pulled through, and we finished the game strong, the way we should have started the game.”
Escalante scored first, and the game was slow, with the Lobos up 6-3 after one quarter and down 12-11 after two. The offense picked up a bit in the fourth quarter with the game on the line late. Journey Trejo hit a layup with 20 seconds left to tie the game. Mora turned the ball over, and Escalante had an open layup at the buzzer. But the shot missed, and the game went to overtime.
“I asked them if they wanted to win the game,” Marquez said. “And if they did, they needed to dig deep and play. And they did.”
Escalante scored early, and took a quick lead in overtime. And Adryana Ulibarri hit a late 3-pointer, her first points of the tournament, to essentially ice the game. Trejo led the team with 10 points, while Faulkner scored nine.
Faulkner is one of the players who was with Marquez on junior varsity a year ago, and is making strides in the year as a starter on varsity.
In the fifth-place game, against Questa (8-3), the Lady Lobos fell off late in a 53-38 loss. At halftime, the Lobos were within five points, but Questa won the second half 26-16. Hannah Lopez scored 14 points, and Trejo had 12.
The Lady Lobos face Navajo Prep (5-7) after press deadline on Tuesday, and have a few more important games as they look to improve heading into district play.
“We’re slowly learning to work together a lot better,” Faulkner said. “It’s coming together, definitely, in our favor. And we’re looking forward to the games ahead of us.”