The match-up was set for Saturday afternoon, with the number one-seeded Española Valley High School Sundevils taking on the number three Belen Eagles in the 5A State Championship game.
Española was coming off an overtime win they had on Thursday evening, against Artesia High School, while the Belen High School Eagles were coming off a nine-point win against the Los Lunas High School Tigers, in the opposite side of the semi-finals.
This is where Española saw themselves playing all year. The game was held at 2 p.m., at The Pit in Albuquerque, which was packed. The Sundevils would end the season with a 63-59 loss.
The tip was won by Belen, allowing them to score on their first possession.
Española did get the ball next, but came away empty on their first attempted shot. The Eagles got in a rhythm and went on a scoring run, racking up seven more points and taking an early and commanding 9-0 lead.
Española coach James Branch was forced to take an early timeout to possibly save the Sundevils from their early-quarter debacle.
Ryan Trujillo was one Española player who wasn’t rattled. He scored the first four points for the Sundevils and got them out of their funk.
Belen quickly countered with a score from one of their guards.
A missed shot from Isaiah Vigil followed on the next play, but was rebounded and put up for two points by A.Z. Salazar.
The game gained momentum and both teams seemed to be playing carelessly, with Belen getting a turnover and Española getting one right after. Down to the closing minutes of the opening quarter, the Eagles and Sundevils exchanged baskets three times, cutting the lead to two, with a Vigil triple.
Belen wasn’t done scoring and finished the first quarter with two three-point shots and four total three-pointers made for the first quarter.
The Sundevils found themselves in territory they hadn’t really seen all year — behind in the first quarter, 19-11.
Española did a complete turnaround in the second quarter and executed all the things they needed, to regain the lead.
Though Belen scored on its first possession, as did Española, Branch called a timeout to administer a more fluid quarter.
The Sundevils scored eight points on a fastbreak, free throws and taking it to the goal.
The only points for the Eagles during that time were two free throws. Española’s J.P. Sena led the way for the Sundevils in the second quarter, scoring eight consecutive points, to tie the game midway through the quarter, at 25.
It was a back-and-forth game with the Sundevils finally taking their first lead of the night, with a 28-27 edge.
Free throws were a minor issue for Española, in the quarter, going 2-7 at the line. The Eagles scored their last field goal to take the lead back, 31-29.
With less than a minute the Sundevils were determined to score any way they could. One way was finding an open player who would shoot when given the opportunity.
Junior Brian Martinez shot a corner three, to take the lead back.
In a one-on-one situation, Chris Fernandez split a pair of free throws and Vigil scored a basket, after getting a foul call, but not completing the play with a free throw.
The last two points in the quarter, for Belen, came at the free throw line, with both shots knocked down.
With about seven seconds left in the half, Trujillo did what he does well and drove the length of the court, dishing the ball to Martinez, before the clock buzzed, giving Española a 37-33 halftime lead.
At the start of the third quarter, Belen came out with more tempo than Española, and the end result was them scoring seven consecutive points and taking the lead, 40-37.
All three of Española’s points in the quarter came from the free throw line, but they did not make one field goal.
The Sundevils were blindsided because they had their best quarter in the second, with 26 points, but only scored three in the third.
The third quarter ended with Belen making four three-pointers and outscoring the Sundevils by 14 points, taking a double-digit lead of 50-40 going into the fourth.
In the final quarter, the Sundevils hoped to dig themselves out of the hole they created. On their two first possessions, they scored five points from Fernandez, who made a layup and had an old-fashioned three-point play.
The Eagles wouldn’t stop answering though, and broke Española’s press with multiple fast passes.
The lead was starting to shrink with the Sundevils playing defense and offense, as if it was the last possession. Off of two made free throws from Sena, Española was down by only two, 53-51.
That was the closest the Sundevils got to catching up.
Española was still battling and not giving up, but it was just a matter of too little too late for them to keep up.
They scored 25 points in the quarter, while Belen scored 23.
The difference in the game was, the Eagles made six more threes than the Sundevils, rebounded nine times more, and shot a better percentage for the game.
Española had four players score in the double digit mark with Trujillo scoring 12, Fernandez scoring 14, Salazar scoring 10, and a game-high 15 points for Sena.
At the end, Branch said the game was a “Good fairy tale (that) just didn’t end well.”
The season was still successful.
Even without a championship, the Sundevils overcame adversity and got farther than some expected.
The team will lose eight seniors, but the underclassmen, who will hopefully return, will have the experience of making it to the championship game.