Local high school girls basketball teams will be scattering across the state Friday as only one team earned a home game for the first round of the state tournament.
First-round winners will advance to next week’s quarterfinals that will be played at The Pit in Albuquerque, as well as at the Rio Rancho Events Center and Bernalillo High School.
Class 4A
No. 10 Española Valley (20-9) at No. 7 Deming (20-7), 6 p.m.
The Lady Sundevils face a 320-mile sojourn south for their first game, but Española coach Ray Romero is convinced his squad is ready to pull the upset.
“We did some good things, and we played some good ball at the end of the season,” he said, noting the team went 15-3 to close out the schedule. “We peaked at the end of season and we’re getting better everyday. Our team motto is to improve everyday and we feel like we’re playing our best ball right now.”
The Lady Sundevils will attack Deming with a variety of defenses, Romero said, which might be necessary as the Wildcats boast one of the top players in the classification, in guard Jacqueline Aguayo. She’s averaging 19.6 points, as well as 4.4 steals.
“I don’t know a lot about them,” Romero said Sunday shortly after the pairings were announced. “I know they have a girl who averages about 20 points and they’re very physical. So they have a superstar.”
To combat her effectiveness, Española will utilize strong team defense, he said.
“We change it up depending on what team we’re playing,” he said. “We can go full-court man-to-man, then full-court press. We can play a 3-2 zone. It depends. If we see any weaknesses on the other team, we try to exploit it.”
While the Lady Sundevils also use a lot of different offenses, everything is hooked to the defense.
“We rely on our defense,” Romero said. “If our defense is good, then everything is going well for us.”
Española is not particularly tall, with seniors Aria Chavez, Naomi Martinez and Leana Atencio holding down the paint.
And the senior guard squad of Alicia Chavez and Hailey Renteria, along with juniors Leah Vigil and Olivia Martinez wreak havoc offensively and defensively.
“We’re playing nine to 12-deep,” Romero said. “We have a big sign in the locker room, ‘Do your job!’ If everybody does their job, well everybody has to do their job. Whatever we do, we’re very team oriented.”
No. 11 Pojoaque Valley (19-10) at No. 6 St. Pius (18-8), 6 p.m.
The Elkettes closed the season on an 8-1 run and in the process, won the District 2-4A tournament, although that wasn’t enough to get an opening-round home game.
Still, coach Bobby Romero is satisfied with where Pojoaque ended up.
“I think it’s actually a good seeding for us,” he said. “I think we can compete well with them. Pius is a good team, but I think we match up fairly well. It should be a fun game.”
The Elkettes have veered away from the traditional Northern New Mexico, full-tilt style as Bobby Romero has tried to add a more deliberate offense to the mix.
“We are very defensive-oriented,” he said. “We play a different style of basketball than most. We play a lot more structured and play within our system.”
Pojoaque is relatively young, with just two senior starters in defensive whiz Lauren Salazar and guard GG Romero. Sophomores Monique Arrietta and Gerianna Romero, as well as junior Alison Paytiamo, round out the starting group.
The group is not tall, with no one on the roster topping 5-foot, 7-inches, Bobby Romero said, but they make up for that with speed and quickness, especially on the defensive end.
“We play really good defense,” he said. “That’s where everybody struggles with us. We adjust to people and match-ups to minimize their opportunities. We do fairly well when we hold teams under 40 points. That’s our strength. We live off of defense. That’s where it starts for us.”
Then it’s a matter of working the offense.
“We can compete with any team, with the exception of Kirtland or Gallup, they’re the only teams that really scare us,” Bobby Romero said. “Otherwise, we’re right there. We have the potential to be able to win our first game and make it to The Pit and see where it goes from there. Once you’re in the tournament, seeding doesn’t mean anything, it’s about who shows up on that day.”
CLASS 2A
No. 12 McCurdy (19-11) at No. 5 Tucumcari (21-7), 6 p.m.
The Lady Bobcats have not been to the state tournament since before COVID, but now they have a chance to make some real noise.
“They struggled the past five-six years. None of these girls have ever experienced the state tournament,” first-year coach Mel Martinez said, adding many of them got state tournament experience with the volleyball team that won a couple of postseason matches.
“My intention in my first year was to get the best out of them,” he added. “As a coach, I try not to get too excited about the state tournament. I try to downplay it a little bit. It’s just another game. That was our philosophy going into the districts and we made it to the district championship.”
The Rattlers are actually a team short-handed McCurdy faced during the summer leagues and the Lady Bobcats had a strong showing despite having just six players.
“It’s a team a lot like us,” Martinez said. “They have a pretty big girl, a couple of shooters and a good point guard. Seems like an identical team.”
For the Lady Bobcats, Mariana Arambula ruthlessly controls the paint on both sides of the floor, collecting more than 14 rebounds a game, while also throwing back more than three blocks.
“She’s hard to deal with,” Martinez said. “She’s about 5’8,” 5’9,” but she’s aggressive. She boxes out real well. She goes after everything. She has a big body. She’s not only tall, she’s got a good frame on her.”
The team has started working some offense through her, as well.
“We can play some in and out with her,” Martinez said. “She can pass it out, lately to Kaylee Martinez and Amy Anaya for three-pointers.”
Arambula is the team’s senior starter and Kaylee Martinez is a junior. Anaya at point guard is a sophomore who leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points a game. Sophomore Isabella Archuleta is another starter and freshman Alyanna Chavez rounds out the top five.
“Being a first-year coach, it took us awhile to find an identity,” Mel Martinez said. “Changing the culture has been my intent the whole season. We weren’t sure where we were going to go but we’ve been pretty successful.”
No. 2 Mesa Vista (24-3) vs. No. 15 Hozho Academy (16-12), 6 p.m.
The reward for a strong season is a home game and a target on the back, and that’s just fine with Lady Trojans coach Jesse Boies.
“We’ve had it on our back all year long pretty much,” he said of wearing a bullseye. “It’s been there from day one when we took out Pecos. Pressure is a privilege in our eyes. If you don’t have pressure that means you’re not very good.”
Well, Mesa Vista is pretty darn good, but the Lady Trojans are not looking past the upstart Lady Wolves, who are in the state tournament for the first time.
“At this level in the game, anybody is beatable,” Boies said. “They could come to our house and take us out. They’re going to come for our heads so we have to ready for them. They’re tall. A lot of height. Have some good defense. It should be fun playing a new team that we never looked into. It’s a good experience to play somebody that has come out of the blue.”
The Lady Trojans, however, are the just the opposite as a program other teams measure themselves against.
And it starts with senior guard and leader Tana Lopez, who is averaging nearly 19 points a game, while also grabbing 6.2 rebounds and snaring 4.5 steals.
But she has plenty of help out there, which is what makes Mesa Vista so dangerous.
Senior Hannah Lopez is putting up almost 10 points a game and four others average 4.5 or more.
But what really gets the Lady Trojans going is their work on the defensive end. The team averages a remarkable 21 steals a game with Lopez at 3.2 and eighth-grader Aaliyah Boies grabbing 4.6.
“Everyone knows their role,” Jesse Boies said. “Hannah, she’s a defensive monster. She brings that intensity and pressure and creates a lot of turnovers. She’s a nightmare to face.”
Sophomores Jessica Sandoval and Aubrey Maestas contribute strong minutes as starters and Aaliyah Boies has recently stepped into the point guard role and made an impact.
Off the bench, junior Valerie Martinez and freshman Isabella Gallegos provide depth.
“Right now, we’re deep. I’m excited,” Jesse Boies said. “No one expected this season from them. It’s been a good experience for them.”