The three referees stood to the side and debated intensely for a minute. The minute felt like an hour, as the crowd stood with bated breath.
The head referee slowly approached center court and swiped his arms in an “X” motion, designating that a defensive foul on Española Valley High School was nulled.
The Roswell High School bench erupted, as did the Española bench, but for different reasons.
The final call gave the Española girls basketball team a home victory over Roswell, Jan. 20, at Española, and the Lady Sundevils defeated the Lady Coyotes by a score of 52-51.
“We fought until the end and we never gave up,” Española head coach Johnny Abeyta said. “We just did what we had to do. And it’s luck, it’s always luck.”
After the final buzzer, the referees debated whether to hand Roswell a pair of free throws, but decided that the foul happened after the game officially ended.
For the latter part of the second half, the game was tight. Going into the final minute of the game, the Lady Sundevils were down by one point, 51-50.
Forward Kaylinn Martinez used a swift move in the post to put Española ahead with 15 seconds left in the game.
“My coach just tries to keep us calm and then we have to run the play and execute it,” point guard Anita DeAguero said of the game-winning point.
The Lady Coyotes had a couple of opportunities to win the game, but missed their shots in the final seconds.
“We played some tough defense,” Abeyta said. “Roswell played really hard, I mean, they are a tough team.”
The Lady Sundevils got off to an early lead in the first quarter of the game, but lost that lead in a Roswell momentum swing.
They led, 19-11, at the end of the first quarter, much of which was thanks to DeAguero’s three three-pointers in that quarter.
Roswell scored double the points Española was able to make in the second quarter, finishing the first half with a one-point lead.
The Lady Sundevils trailed going into the locker room at halftime, 29-28.
The young Lady Sundevils team fell victim to a mental lapse. Their set plays were not opening up looks and the full-court press they were employing was not supplying intense pressure on Roswell.
“They fall asleep, that’s what it is,” Abeyta said. “If we have a mental breakdown from one of the girls, it affects everything.”
It took two three-pointers and another low bucket from junior Kaylee Chavez to put the Lady Sundevils back into their normal groove. Chavez finished the game with 24 points.
“I’m sure her back is hurting from carrying us — her and Kaylinn,” DeAguero said of Chavez.
Chavez’s offensive jump-start made its way to Española’s defense and the Lady Sundevils appeared to pick up their play on all facets of the court.
For the past week, a focal point in practice has been training some of the forwards to defend in the post.
Abeyta said he finally saw a difference in his players’ ability to guard down low, especially from Martinez and center Kianna Duran.