The Española Valley Lady Sundevils clinched first place in District 2AAAA Feb. 21 with a 66-39 victory at Bernalillo.
The victory came after a disappointing loss to Los Alamos Feb. 17 in Española. Melanie Vigil’s three-point attempt that sailed over the basket in the closing seconds of Española’s loss to Los Alamos epitomized Española’s shooting woes and lackluster performance in their 48-38 loss to the Hilltoppers.
“We didn’t rise to the occasion,” Española coach Ron Drake said.
With a victory over the Hilltoppers, the Sundevils could have clinched first place in District 2AAAA, the first seed and the right to host the District 2AAAA championship game and an automatic spot in the Class AAAA state tournament. With the loss, which dropped Española to 6-1 in District 2AAAA, Española had to win its final regular season game against Bernalillo.
Despite the fact Bernalillo was 0-7 in district play and an Española loss highly unlikely, it was no consolation to Drake, who slapped his hand down hard on his desk.
“I wanted to win (the Los Alamos) game,” he said. “I wanted to go 8-0 (in District 2AAAA).”
The Sundevils shot a dismal 13-of-69 from the floor against the Hilltoppers. It didn’t matter what kind of shot it was — layups, jumpers, three-pointers — the Sundevils missed them all with equal inefficiency.
One of the most unlikely shots of the game was one that went in the basket for the Hilltoppers at the end of the third quarter. Guard Sarah Worland launched a prayer from midcourt just before the buzzer and it hit nothing but net to break a 24-24 tie.
“I was completely astounded,” Worland said.
Los Alamos’ Taylor Ealey took over from there by scoring on a drive to the basket and then burying a three-pointer from the corner to give the Hilltoppers a 32-24 lead. The Sundevils came back and narrowed the lead to three points, but the Hilltoppers’ Bryanna Richins scored Los Alamos’ next seven points and Española could only answer with two of their own.
The win by the Hilltoppers avenged an earlier defeat at the hand of the Sundevils in Los Alamos.
“In that first game, we didn’t take care of the ball, and we were a little overconfident,” Los Alamos coach Tarah Logan said. “In this game, we took nothing for granted and we took care of the ball.”
The District 2AAAA tournament begins next week for both boys and girls. The winner of the regular season district title gets an automatic berth in the opening round of the Class AAAA state tournament. The winner of the District 2AAAA tournament will also get an automatic spot in the tournament.
If it is the same team that wins both, then only that team will be guaranteed a spot in the state tournament from District 2AAAA. Any other team from District 2AAAA would have to be selected by the seeding committee.
The outcome of the Bernalillo game was settled in the first half when Española grabbed a 34-14 lead. Junior Nisa Duran, a leading candidate for the District 2AAAA Player of the Year, led the Sundevils with 22 points.
The Sundevils will host the championship game of the District 2AAAA tournament Saturday at 7 p.m.