The Dulce Lady Hawks had to win three games in three days to tie for first place in the district.
But playing a fourth game two days later, the team ran out of gas.
Dulce (19-7) lost its district tiebreak game 54-41 to Laguna-Acoma (18-9) 54-41 on Monday in a neutral site game at Coronado High School, coming out flat and looking overmatched, especially against Laguna-Acoma’s defense. Dulce, one of the top teams in the state all season, uncharacteristically struggled.
“We just shied away from rebounding, that was our biggest factor,” Dulce coach Alyssa Veneno said. “Rebounding and boxing out.”
The tiebreak game determined the regular season district champion, who became the top seed in the district tournament and earned an automatic berth to the state tournament (though both teams were easily getting in regardless). The game also has state tournament seeding implications.
In New Mexico Activities Association seeding procedures, the team that finishes higher in district standings must be seeded higher in the state tournament. Dulce had a chance to be the top overall seed in 2A had they won this game, but will now have to settle for a lower seed.
“Lately, our philosophy has been taking it game by game,” Veneno said. “They just went in today thinking it’s just another game. I don’t want to add any other pressure behind that.”
Dulce had split the season series with Laguna-Acoma, and will likely match up a fourth time in the district tournament.
With Dulce, Mesa Vista (22-4), Clayton (18-7) and Santa Rosa (18-8) all losing their respective districts, the seeding committee will face a logjam on Sunday at the conclusion of district tournaments.
The Laguna-Acoma Hawks are led by 6-foot center Sylvia Gedman, who proved herself on Monday to be one of the top players in 2A with scoring, rebounding and defending ability. Their defense caused fits the whole game for Dulce, and for most of the game they struggled to even get a shot attempt. And when Dulce’s defense focused on stopping Gedman, Laguna-Acoma’s supporting guards stepped up.
“We weren’t really trusting each other, and we didn’t have confidence in one another,” Jasmine Keith said.
Neither team scored for the first three minutes of the game, but quickly Dulce was forced to call timeout down 7-2 in the first quarter. That was just the beginning of their troubles, with only a late 3-pointer by Keith cutting the first-quarter deficit to nine.
In the second quarter, Laguna-Acoma ran up the lead further, and led 26-12 at halftime.
Dulce finally managed to put some points on the board in the third quarter, but Laguna-Acoma’s offense began to work even harder, scoring points in transition and from outside, and they led by 23 by the end of the quarter. Not helping matters all game was the fact that seemingly everything was falling for Laguna-Acoma.
Dulce’s offense finally came slightly alive late in the game, after they trailed by 25 points, and they finished the game with a 15-3 run to make the final score respectable.
Dulce will play at home on Thursday against the winner of Rehoboth Christian (10-14) and Navajo Pine (4-22), who played after press deadline on Tuesday. If they win, they will rematch at Laguna-Acoma on Saturday.
Bailey Vigil, who missed time earlier in the month with an injury, ended as Dulce’s leading scorer with 13 points, though seven of those came in the fourth quarter and she was held without a field goal in the first half. Gedman ultimately scored 12 for Laguna-Acoma, while Gianna Carrillo scored 14.
“I don’t know what it is about us always wanting to take the tougher route,” Veneno said. “But it doesn’t define us. That’s one thing I hope everyone understands … we’re not quitters, and we’re going to keep fighting until the end.”