In the Northern Rio Grande Tournament championship game, Mattie Dale scored the first points.
Then, Kelby Enjady-Vigil followed up with her own basket, giving Dulce a brief lead.
Neither of those players were part of last year’s team. But both wanted to be.
Two of Dulce’s leading players are back with the team for their senior season. Dale and Enjady-Vigil, have played a big role in keeping Dulce as a top team in 2A. Their impact was felt right from the start of the season, though they came up just short at the NRG Tournament.
Of Dale, Dulce Coach Alyssa Veneno said, “She’s brought a lot of energy and an inside presence. She picks up the morale when she’s in.”
And of Enjady-Vigil, she said, “She’s another person I can rely on when my point guard Bailey (Vigil) is not in. She’s out there making plays.”
The Hawks won big in both of their two games, winning 50-31 over McCurdy (3-3) and 55-40 over Pecos (7-6). In that second game, after a close first quarter, Dulce made a big run. Their third quarter included a 17-5 run. They led by 17 points after three quarters, and by as many as 23 in the fourth.
Starting in sixth grade, Enjady-Vigil opted to start attending Pagosa Springs High School. It’s not uncommon for Dulce residents to attend the school 50 miles away for academic reasons.
Plenty others from the area will go to Escalante or Santa Fe Indian School. Enjady-Vigil said she wanted to “get out in the open world, instead of our little rez.”
But after her sophomore year, Enjady-Vigil decided to return and attend, and play basketball for, her home school.
Enjady-Vigil said she wanted to be with, and play basketball with her peers from childhood. Especially her cousin, Bailey Vigil, the team’s top scorer.
“I just wanted to come back and be with the rest of my classmates,” she said.
Meanwhile, that same year, then-sophomore Mattie Dale started the year with the basketball team. But she decided to leave the team early in the season to focus on her academics, including classes taken at San Juan College in Farmington.
“I was going to be traveling back and forth,” she said. “I didn’t want (basketball) interfering with that.”
By her junior year, Dale was ready to return to the court. But a shoulder injury from volleyball season kept her out the whole year. She had to just watch from the sidelines as Dulce had one of its most successful seasons in school history, reaching the state quarterfinals.
“It was really tough, I was very emotional,” Dale said. “I just worried about coming back from physical therapy, and training throughout the whole summer.”
Also watching that season was Enjady-Vigil. She was back at Dulce High. But the New Mexico Activities Association’s transfer rules forced her to sit out a year, and she could only play on junior varsity.
“It was really tough,” she said. “I tried getting on the NMAA board, but they wouldn’t let me. I just stuck it out.”
But now, both are fully on board as senior leaders. Dale is the tallest player on the team, and is great as a rebounder and post scorer. Enjady-Vigil has the height and ability to play pretty much any position, and is an outside threat that stretches defenses to the limit.
Dale said they maintained a bond, which translates both on and off the court.
“They bring that spark that, we already had, but just more to it,” Veneno said. “Their energy is always good and encouraging.”