Winless through their first six games, Española Valley boys basketball felt the pressure continuing to mount.
“It felt like a semi truck,” senior forward Jaydn Martinez said.
The Sundevils finally broke through for their first victory of the year, winning 72-49 over Aztec (1-7) in the first round of the Al Armendariz Tournament at Capital High School on Dec. 8. They lost their next two games, 49-37 to Pecos (4-1) and 52-37 to Pojoaque Valley (6-2).
“Just playing as a team and trusting each other,” Martinez said.
But Española Valley finds itself in a precarious spot. Last year, they had a final record of 21-8. Through nine games, they have already matched that total in losses.
The Sundevils had Jacob Torresdey, Nate Chacon, Jaydn Martinez, Marques Martinez and Kevin Coffeen as their starters against Aztec.
Nate Chacon had a steal and scored the game’s first points, and then Marques Martinez hit Jaydn Martinez on a gorgeous no-look pass, one of several great passes Marques Martinez had in the game, and the Sundevils led 8-2 three minutes into the game.
They continued with an excellent defense, getting steals in the halfcourt, and led 30-17 by halftime. They continued building on the lead, and a 3-pointer by Jaydn Martinez at the third-quarter buzzer finished a 7-0 run and pushed the lead to 20. Española led by as many as 27 points in the fourth quarter.
Jaydn Martinez finished with 26 points in the win, and Chacon added 10.
“It felt great,” Jaydn Martinez said. “I just wanted to lead my team and get our first W and get on track.”
“Jaydn got a lot of good, open looks because his teammates found him in the right position,” Española coach Joey Trujillo said. “That’s what we’ve been preaching to the kids about being good teammates. It’s not always who scores, it’s about who gave you the assist, who got the rebound, who go the steal.”
In the semifinal the next day, the Sundevils lost to Pecos by 12 points, trailing by two at the end of the third quarter but letting up 19 points in the fourth. Chacon led the Sundevils with 11 points.
In the third-place game against Pojoaque, Trujillo got to face his former team, where he coached and won a state championship. But Española fell short, with Jaydn Martinez out of the game due to injury, after falling behind 11-3 in the first quarter. The Sundevils made a run to make the game close in the third quarter, but Pojoaque pulled away in the end.
The Sundevils played Valencia (3-6) on Tuesday after press deadline, and will return to Capital to play the Jaguars (5-2), who ultimately won their home tournament, on Thursday before hosting Clovis (3-2) Saturday.
But after getting their first win, the relief will help Española focus going forward.
“As we say, we didn’t get the monkey off our back,” Trujillo said. “We got the semi off our back. Now we’re going to see if we can put some W’s together.”