The Mesa Vista Lady Trojans started their basketball season Nov. 15 with a 65-57 victory over the Dulce Lady Hawks. It was a boost for the Trojans, who went 45-16 in last year’s injury-plagued season.
“It was a great way to start,” senior Laura Lopez said. “It will give us a positive attitude for the season.”
Lopez was one of two starters who were injured last season, Ashley Martinez being the other. Lopez said she was glad to be back.
“It was an adrenaline rush to be back on the court,” she said.
The Trojans showed some rust at the beginning of the game. Mesa Vista missed its first four shots, including a point-blank layup by senior Stephanie Gallegos.’ After two scores by Dulce’s Carmen Gomez, Lopez finally broke the ice with the Trojans’ first basket of the season.
The first quarter ended in an 8-8 tie. In the second quarter, the Trojans pressed the Hawks and took control of the game.
The Trojans created turnover after turnover and broke away with an 11-point run, which ended with Crystal Martinez’s three-pointer. But the Hawks kept chipping away and narrowed the lead to four points by halftime.
Mesa Vista scored five points to begin the third quarter and gradually extended their lead to 14 points after a basket by Muriah Dean.
In the fourth quarter, the Hawks mounted a comeback that started with a three-pointer by senior Sharlee Garcia and ended with a basket by Kaitlyn Vigil. The score was 46-45 in favor of Mesa Vista, but the Hawks missed a free throw that could have tied the score. It happened again at 52-51, with 4:53 left in the game.
Mesa Vista’s Carmelita Trujillo then missed a pair of free throws, but atoned for her sin by stealing a pass and sinking a layup, making the score 54-51.
The Trojans held the Hawks scoreless for the next four minutes and put together a 9-0 run before Dulce scored again.
“We got a little lazy on defense,” Mesa Vista coach Richard Montoya said. “I switched to a man press and that gave (Dulce) a little trouble.”
Trujillo led Mesa Vista with 18 points and Crystal Martinez had 13. Garcia led Dulce with 14 points.
First-year Dulce coach Sabrina Armendarez said her team suffered because the week before the game, half her players were playing volleyball in the opening round of the state tournament. The team only practiced together for five days, Armendarez said.
“It shows us in terms of conditioning where we need to be,” she said. “Give us five more days and we’ll be ready.”
Armendarez said once the Hawks gel, they can beat even their toughest District 2AA competitors.
“If they believe in themselves the way I believe in them, they can,” Armendarez said.