Every time the two blue Lady Hawks face off, it’s a battle.
Dulce and Laguna-Acoma have clashed 12 times in the last three seasons, almost all competitive games. And Laguna-Acoma has taken nine of those, including last year’s district championship, a state quarterfinal, and this year’s district tiebreak game. But this one was different; Dulce was determined to make it so.
“We already have history with them,” said senior Mattie Dale. “We all wanted a change.”
From down 16, Dulce (18-10) stormed back and got the win 59-49 over Laguna-Acoma (17-9) on the road on Friday to take the District 1-2A tournament championship. It was a tale of two halves, with Dulce dominating the final 16 minutes.
At the start of the second half, Laguna-Acoma hit a 3-pointer and led 38-22. From that point on, Dulce won the battle 37-11.
“We went into halftime pissed off,” Dulce coach Alyssa Veneno said. “We were mad. The first half was not good for us. And we have been a second-half team all season. So, we knew coming into that second half, we had to be fired up.”
The first half was the Gianna Carrillo show. The district player of the year scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers for Laguna-Acoma, looking unstoppable.
But in the second half, Carrillo only scored two, and did not make a field goal, before fouling out with three minutes left.
Dulce said that in previous games they tried a box-and-one matchup on Carrillo, but it did not work. Instead, they gave different defensive looks, and worked as a team to slow her in the second half.
Dulce scored first but fell behind after giving up nine straight points. In the first half, they missed all but one of their 3-point attempts, and nothing seemed to be falling. They were down 32-16, though went on a small run before the half. They were struggling to succeed with their size advantage.
“Don’t let each other down,” Alaina Vigil said was the halftime conversation. “We want it. If anything happens, we’ll be there for each other.”
But the second half was a completely different story. After allowing 35 points in the first half, Dulce let up just 14 in the second. Dulce seemed to grab every missed shot on both sides of the court, outmuscling the smaller Laguna-Acoma in the post. Shots started to fall.
“We trusted each other,” Dale said.
“We just came out firing,” said Alaina Vigil.
After going down by 16, Dulce went on an 18-2 run in under six minutes to tie the game. After Laguna-Acoma broke that run, Dulce went on another 12-2 run, building a lead up to nine points late in the game.
Laguna-Acoma had no answers, and they used all four timeouts to unsuccessfully try to stop momentum, using their last one with four minutes left, down by seven.
Dale led Dulce with 19 points in the game. Her nine in the first half came at big moments to keep them in the game, and in the second half the points plus her rebounds and defense helped them pull back.
“She’s a game changer,” Veneno said. “She comes in and makes her presence known. And I feel like she did exactly that tonight.”
From Dulce, Dale, Bailey Vigil, Alaina Vigil, Sierra Martinez and Kadence Chavez all made the all-district team. And Veneno was the district coach of the year.
“I have to give it to my girls and my coaching staff,” Veneno said. “They’re really the ones that got me this trophy this year.”
Dulce will find out their seed at the state tournament on Sunday, and have a good chance at a top-five seed. They will very likely host their first-round game at home.
“Same energy we did in the second half,” Dale said. “Everyone going 100 percent all the way.”
Friday Scores
District 5-2A Girls Championship
No. 1 Mesa Vista 44, No. 2 Peñasco 41
District 2-4A Girls Championship
No. 2 Los Alamos 58, No. 1 Pojoaque 46
District 7-1A Boys Semifinals
No. 1 Legacy Academy 73, No. 4 Coronado 19
No. 2 Evangel Christian / Oak Grove 65, No. 3 Jemez Valley 45
Continental Athletic Conference Men’s First Round
No. 4 Northern New Mexico 75, No. 5 Voorhees 68