The Española Lady Sundevils’ shots just wouldn’t fall during their 62-40 loss to Deming Dec. 6 in the championship game of the Lady Jaguar Invitational at Capital High School in Santa Fe
“It seemed like we weren’t there tonight,” Española coach Ron Drake said. “We’re a much better team than that. But even so, the girls played hard and never gave up.”
Deming Wildcat Lisa Uzueta dominated the Lady Sundevils. Uzueta scored 31 points in the title game and was named the tournament’s most valuable player after she scored 94 points in three games.
“It was good for the Wildcats to come up to this tournament to play against the northern teams in the AAAA division. Española is a top team and it helps us to know where we’re at,” Deming coach Jerome Sandoval said.
The Lady Sundevils started the tournament with a victory over Capital High 60-39, the host of the Jaguar Tournament. The 21-point victory set the stage for their seminfinal game against Taos, where the Lady Sundevils continued their offensive dominance by defeating the Lady Tigers 47-28.
However, during the championship game, the Lady Sundevils just couldn’t get the offense going. Turnovers in the first quarter set the stage throughout the game. Deming’s full-court press kept Española from scoring easy baskets.
By halftime, Deming led 36-16. Although the Lady Sundevils were getting shots, they just rimmed out and turnovers didn’t help. At the end of the third quarter, Deming was up by 21 points, 48-27. The Sundevils played hard in a losing effort to Deming 62-40.
Española’s three all-tournament selections led the Sundevils in scoring in the title game. Melanie Vigil led Española with 13 points, Megan Martinez had 10, and Nisa Duran added seven.
Second place was still a formidable finish for the Lady Sundevils, Drake said.
“We’ll bounce back. It was a good team we lost to,” Drake said. “And as long as we learned something from this game, we’ll go forward. This was the girls first, second place win in the past three years, and I’m proud of them.”
The Lady Sundevils will travel to Laguna Acoma Thursday (12/11) to play in the Holiday Hoops Classic Tournament.