Leana Atencio finally had her breakout game.
In an up-and-down first half of the season, the sophomore never scored more than five points, and often had her minutes limited.
“She had struggled all year,” said coach Joe Estrada. “I told coach Lando (Alire), I have got to get her in earlier, and I’ve got to give her some minutes. We’re going to need her, she’s a good little ballplayer. We got her in earlier, we gave her more minutes tonight, and it paid off for us, and more important it paid off for her.”
But against Pojoaque, in the first game of the district season, Atencio came off the bench for 10 points, eight in the first half, leading the Sundevils (9-9, 1-0 in district) to a 39-25 win over Pojoaque (6-11, 0-1) for their sixth-straight victory.
“We’re back to 1-0 in the season that really matters for us,” Estrada said.
After a 3-9 start to the year, the Sundevils are back to .500, and should be competitive in a district where the current favorite seems to be Los Alamos (10-6, 1-0) as they come off a 36-point win over Moriarty (9-8, 0-1).
“We’re feeling really good and happy with ourselves, and together,” said junior Alyanna Medina.
Medina said the team’s positive energy, and cheering each other on, has been key during the win streak. In a positive cycle, the winning has led to better mentalities, which leads to turning wins into streaks. A big strength for the Sundevils is an even roster that has seemingly equal contributions off the bench to the starters.
“It’s exciting,” she said of the win. “It’ll give us more confidence as we go through the district. I think that we’re going to have a really good time in districts.”
Española stayed patient on offense through the game, and stifled Pojoaque’s defense. They scored the first 10 points, with Pojoaque first clearing the shutout in the closing seconds of the first quarter. At halftime, Española led 16-8.
The Sundevils kept Pojoaque to just one point in the third quarter, and the Elkettes were stuck at nine points until six minutes remained in the game, and they trailed by 23 points. Their offense finally did come alive, for 16 points in the final minutes, but it was too little too late as Española cruised to a win.
“We’re getting better at playing defense without fouling so much,” Estrada said. “We have got to start being able to put a good defense, and turn it into good offense. We’re playing good defense, we’re getting steals, we’re getting rebounds, we’re getting turnovers. But we’re not converting into points enough on the other side.”
Atencio’s 10 points were a team high, with Medina and Rhianna Padilla — who currently leads the team in most statistics — scoring eight. Marisa Martinez led Pojoaque with six points.
In the freshman team match, Española won 52-26, and in the junior varsity match they held Pojoaque scoreless in the third quarter to win 39-10.
The Sundevils will play at Moriarty on Saturday, while the Elkettes look to snap a six-game losing streak on Friday at Taos (5-11, 0-0).
“Haven’t been a lot of pretty wins,” Estrada said. “But we’ll take the W either way.”