Pojoaque finally played a game with its entire rotation.
Monique Arrieta went down with a fractured ankle in the first game of the season. As soon as she returned in January, two other key players had back injuries. Both of them, including leading scorer Jasmine Valdez, were fully healthy for February.
“It finally felt like we were a complete family on the court,” Valdez said
With a full group, the Elkettes (11-10, 3-0) kept first place in District 2-4A with a 48-34 win over Moriarty (4-17, 0-4) at home on Friday. Pojoaque, through three games, has won more district games than they have since 2020, and Friday’s was their most points in a district win in three years.
Pojoaque coach Cindy Roybal said she was not used to being able to substitute players so regularly with everyone available.
The Elkettes had already taken down Española Valley (12-9, 2-1) and Taos (5-16, 1-2) on the road, surprising many with their quick improvements from the last three seasons. Valdez credited communication and defense for their recent success.
“It’s a true family out there,” Arrieta said. “Everyone’s completely together, we’re all on the same page.”
The other key is confidence, building quickly through district wins. That also comes, Valdez said, from encouraging each other in games and practice.
Arrieta, now recovered from her injury, led the team against Moriarty with a 16-point performance as its capable ball handler. Roybal called her a tremendous team leader as a freshman. Marisela Bowie scored eight points and controlled the rebounds, and Valdez scored six points and had a number of impressive assists off the bench in her return.
Pojoaque already looks like a different team than they did at the start of the year, a 71-15 loss to Sandia.
“We all struggled at the beginning,” Valdez said. “Now, everyone’s improved a lot.”
The Elkettes scored first on a free-throw by Bowie, but fell behind when the offense went cold in the first quarter, only scoring five points. They succeeded better in the second quarter, including successive 3-pointers by Kaylee Martinez, and Monique Arrieta beat the halftime buzzer with a perfectly timed layup to go ahead by seven.
“We realized what we could do and what we couldn’t do,” Arrieta said. “We finally went to our stronger sides, left our weak sides alone.”
They built a bigger lead through the third quarter, though gave up a small run to let Moriarty back within eight, but pulled away in the fourth to win by 14.
In the junior varsity game, Moriarty came away with a 45-37 win.
Pojoaque has two more big tests upcoming next week to stay on top of the district. On Feb. 8 they face Los Alamos (11-10, 2-1), and then get Española at home on Feb. 10.
“Everybody wants us,” Roybal said. “These guys aren’t used to having a big X on their back.”