Escalante High School girls basketball coach Stanford Salazar gave his team a ‘B’.
“We left a lot of points on the court,” Salazar said. “But Menaul did a great job. They really worked hard.”
But even on far from their best night, the top-seeded Lady Lobos (22-4) cruised to a 2A quarterfinal victory, winning 64-48 at home over No. 8 Menaul (18-6) to advance to the state semifinals.
“We’re feeling really happy and excited to be going to Albuqeruqe,” said Escalante senior Kalese Torrez. “It doesn’t feel real. It feels like a dream. Everybody’s so happy.”
Still fresh on the team’s mind is the hurt of the end of the 2020-21 season, where Escalante received a No. 4 seed after a 9-2 season. Just after the end of the regular season, a COVID-19 outbreak forced the team to forfeit out of the state tournament.
“This could have been us last year,” Torrez said. “We’re just showing how much we wanted it, from last year.”
But throughout the night, poor shooting seemed to hurt the Lady Lobos. Uncharacteristically, they missed everything from outside shots to layups to free throws. The team hit just three 3-pointers in the game despite countless open looks; they went 7-for-18 on free throws; and Salazar counted 18 missed layups.
The talent and discipline of the team was enough to overcome those woes. While still running their superior offensive system and clamping down on defense, the points came through eventually — 23 in the second quarter alone.
Those points were needed after a slow start. With shots missing, Escalante fell behind. Menaul seemingly did not struggle against the press defense the way most opponents did. But Brycelyn Martinez hit a 3-pointer to take the lead at the end of the quarter, and they never again trailed.
In the fourth quarter, Escalante built a lead up to 22 while allowing just three points until the closing minutes with the game well out of reach.
Torrez, the only senior in the starting lineup, led the scoring with 22 points in her final game on her home court — though half of her career was played in the older gymnasium.
“It’s fun to make new memories in this new gym with my team,” Torrez said.
Their semifinal game comes at 9:30 a.m. on Friday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. They will play a shocking fifth meeting with Peñasco, one of just three teams to beat the Lady Lobos this year (the others being 3A semifinalist Santa Fe Indian School and Sanford, Colo. — the top seed in their own state tournament). The Panthers won 39-30 in Tierra Amarilla in a February matchup.
In three other games this year, Escalante has won by 24 (at the Northern Rio Grande Tournament), 22 (in Peñasco in a district game) and 23 (at home in the district championship).
“Right now, as far as district is concerned and all that, that’s already out the window,” Salazar said. “This is a state playoff game.”