Mustangs wear down Tigers
West Mesa guards take over in 63-51 victory
A week ahead of a hugely important road trip, the West Mesa High School girls basketball team earned its first statement win of the 2018-19 season.
The Mustangs overcame a ninepoint deficit at the end of the first half, carried the momentum into the second half and West Mesa, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 5A, beat visiting Los Lunas, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 4A, by a 63-51 count Thursday night.
Senior guard Espi Varoz led the Mustangs (2-0) with 16 points in the victory, as West Mesa’s veteran guards turned up the defensive heat in the second half against the Tigers after the game was tied 32-all at halftime.
“That’s our game,” Varoz said. “We like to wear teams down, and presurre them with our defense.”
With sophomore guard Natalie Jojola shooting lights-out for Los Lunas (2-2) in the first half — she was 6-for6 from the field with three 3-pointers and 15 points — the Tigers were sitting on a 30-21 lead with 100 seconds left before halftime.
West Mesa, which hadn’t made a 3 of its own yet, finally drained a pair of them, from Cece Barela and Jazmin Cordova, and the Mustangs closed on an 11-2 run going into the half.
West Mesa turned Los Lunas over several times early in the third quarter, turning that into a 6-0 run and the Mustangs never relinquished the lead. Barela hit another 3 in the final minute of the quarter for a 51-43 edge.
“At halftime, (we said) we needed to play a smarter game,” Varoz said. “We needed to take care of the ball.”
There was one final run, 11-0, to seal things in the fourth quarter as the Tigers only scored three points in the first seven minutes of the period.
“To be honest, we (came out) a little excited and erratic,” West Mesa coach Manny Otero said. “Second half ... when our defense is better, our offense seems to flow better.”
And once West Mesa established control, those experienced guards protected the lead without issue.
“These guards have earned that trust,” Otero said. “I’m fortunate to have experienced kids at guard to put games away.”
Maiah Rivas added 12 points and Emily Burk 11 for West Mesa. The Mustangs are off for a week, then have a huge road trip at No. 3 Carlsbad and No. 1 Hobbs next weekend.
“I don’t think West Mesa has had such a hard beginning to their season in a while,” said Varoz. “That is gonna be a good test for us.”
Jojola finished with a game-best 22 points and was 8-of-10 from the floor, and five out of six from beyond the arc.
The Tigers shot 65 percent (13 of 20) from the floor in the first half, but just 41 percent after halftime. By contrast, the Mustangs shot 39 percent in the first half, but 55 percent in the final two quarters as their defense led to some high-percentage looks.
BOYS: In the top boys matchup Thursday night, Volcano Vista (2-0) outscored Hope Christian by 19 points in the fourth quarter and rallied for a 78-67 victory over the Huskies in Hope’s season opener.
Cesar Madrid led the visiting
Hawks with 16 points.