The Española Valley Sundevils ended a satisfying week with a 67-49 win over Albuquerque High School Jan. 17 in Albuquerque.
The victory was the Sundevils’ fourth in six days and came in front of a small crowd that featured more Sundevils fans than supporters of the hometown Bulldogs. Española improved to 16-2 overall.
Española began the week Jan. 12 by defeating West Las Vegas 84-64. Then the Sundevils opened play in District 2AAAA Jan. 13 with a 64-56 road win over Taos.
After a couple of days off, the Sundevils traveled to Farmington to face the Piedra Vista Panthers. After holding a slim 23-21 lead at halftime the Sundevils outscored the Panthers 17-9 in the third quarter and blitzed Piedra Vista 22-12 in the fourth quarter to take a 61-42 victory. The Sundevils had a trio of double-digit scorers, led by Donovan Maldonado with 12 points. Aaron Aragon and Luis Alvarado had 11 points apiece for the Sundevils.
Aragon stepped up against the Bulldogs, too. The 6-foot junior guard had moved into a starting role when senior starter Matt Brito came down with the flu after the game against Taos. Aragon lit up Albuquerque’s gym for 25 points to lead the Sundevils.
“My team did a good job of penetrating and kicking the ball out to me,” Aragon said. “I was pumped for the game.”
Española got off to its usual slow start against the Bulldogs, falling behind 6-1 before rallying to tie the game 6-6 after a pair of free throws by Aragon. The Sundevils finished the first quarter with back-to-back three-pointers by Maldonado to take a 16-13 lead.
Albuquerque dominated Española on the boards in the beginning of the second quarter, scoring eight straight points on putbacks to take a 21-16 lead. That’s when Aragon got hot.
After draining two free throws, Aragon buried a three-pointer from the corner to tie the score. A three-point play by Albuquerque’s Hamilton Webb put the Bulldogs ahead 24-21, but Aragon buried another three-pointer to give the lead back to the Sundevils and they never trailed again.
“Once we realized he was hot, we started looking for him,” Española guard Ryan Salazar said.
While Aragon was pouring in the points, the Española press was creating turnovers. After a free throw by Aragon, he tied up an Albuquerque player to create a jump ball that gave Española possession. The Bulldogs still hadn’t found a way to cover Aragon, and he buried another three-pointer. On Albuquerque’s next possession, he tipped a pass that led to a turnover and nailed a pair of free throws. Aragon single-handedly outscored Albuquerque 14-3 during a five-minute stretch in the second quarter to give the Sundevils a 30-24 lead.
Aragon took a well-deserved rest, but the Sundevils didn’t slow down. Española led 39-29 at the end of the first half after a jumper by Rodney Coles.
Everything slowed down in the third quarter as the Sundevils went to a perimeter passing offense. The Bulldogs outscored Española 9-4 to make the score 43-38 in favor of Española heading into the fourth quarter.
A familiar face led a Sundevil surge in the fourth quarter. Aragon nailed a pair of free throws and followed with a twisting, turning fast-break layup while drawing a foul. His free throw gave Española a 48-39 lead and a basket by Gabe Rodriguez gave the Sundevils a double-digit lead that they steadily extended until the game’s final buzzer.
Alvarado added 13 points for the Sundevils, including eight of the Sundevils’ final 12 points.
Maldonado, one of just two returning starters for the Sundevils entering the season (Brito is the other), tallied eight points and has become Española’s sixth man off the bench.
“This is the first year we’ve all played together and we’re starting to get some chemistry,” he said.
The Sundevils host Capital Wednesday (1/21) in a District 2AAAA matchup and host the Hobbs Eagles Saturday (see related story).