In the current Española Valley starting lineup, Rhianna Padilla stands as the only senior alongside four sophomores: Katie Alire, Hailey Renteria, Alicia Chavez and Aliya Rael.
Padilla has had to step into a leadership role on the team after having been one of the younger players a year ago.
“I finally came to the realization that I have to trust them,” Padilla said. “And they have my back, same as I have their back. There’s some times where it gets a little scary and stressful, they’re young, sometimes they get scared and lost. But I tend to help them a lot. I trust them.”
Española Valley (2-6) won one of three games at the Al Armendariz Tournament at Capital High School, defeating Capital (1-7) 36-22 on Dec. 9. They lost their first-round game 49-34 to Navajo Prep (6-2), and they lost the consolation championship 33-31 to West Las Vegas (5-3).
“We’re small, and we’re young,” Española coach Joe Estrada said. “We’ve got to get those young ones some experience. Rhianna does a great job of leading those sophomores and helping them out.”
Padilla will eventually be joined by Unica May, a starter last season as a junior, who is still recovering from an offseason knee injury.
Española has had its practice time limited with tournament action in back-to-back weekends, and Estrada hopes to be able to take time now with the team to make adjustments on offense.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Estrada said. “Our sophomores need game experience, that’s where they’re going to get better. But on the other side, we need time in practice to go over some things, and maybe a couple of wrinkles on offense.”
Padilla scored 15 points in the loss to Navajo Prep, and Renteria had eight rebounds. The team hit five three-pointers in the game, three from Padilla. The Sundevils were outscored 15-3 in the second quarter, and could not make up that deficit.
But Española rebounded for a strong defensive game in a win over the tournament hosts.
Renteria hit a 3-pointer on the first possession, but the offense went quiet for the next six minutes. The defense, however, held strong enough to keep a 7-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Capital went scoreless for about an entire quarter, scoring their next points nearly six minutes into the second, at which point they were down 14-4.
Española’s offense opened a bit in the second half, after leading 16-9 at halftime, though they still struggled to consistently finish at the basket. But they held Capital to just 22 points in the game, a performance that led to a 14-point win despite 28 percent field-goal shooting.
The Sundevils focused on taking away the high post, and daring Capital to shoot, which worked to limit Capital’s scoring. Padilla said the win was a relief to the team, who had lost three straight games, and five of their first six.
Padilla scored 17 points, nearly half of Española’s total, in the win over Capital, and added nine rebounds. Quianna Martinez also had nine rebounds in the game. Hannah Martinez, normally a top contributor, missed the game with an illness.
“We needed that win,” Estrada said. “Thought we played a pretty smart game. Maybe it wasn’t a beautiful game, but we don’t need beautiful games right now.”
Seeking a consolation championship, Española lost by two points to West Las Vegas (who had also defeated Taos earlier in the season). The Sundevils trailed 13-10 at the end of the first quarter, and 24-23 entering the fourth. The team had chances consistently down the stretch, but was never able to do what they needed for the win.
Martinez led the team with eight points coming off the bench in the loss, while missing half of their 16 free-throw attempts cost the Sundevils.
Española hosted a surging team in Valencia (8-1) after press deadline on Tuesday, and they host Los Lunas (0-7) on Thursday and travel to Robertson (3-0) on Saturday.
“We’ve been battling some good opponents,” Padilla said. “But we haven’t been getting down lately. I’m excited, we’re still barely into (this season).”