Prep roundup: McCurdy ends Lady Dragons’ season.
Ricardo Arredondo finally saw a complete effort from his Monte del Sol Lady Dragons on Wednesday night.
It was a moment he cherished, because it’s the last one for him as head coach of Monte del Sol’s girls basketball program.
Monte del Sol struggled to score in the second quarter of its District 2-3A semifinal against McCurdy, and it led to the Lady Bobcats’ 52-27 win in Memorial Gymnasium, but Arredondo felt his team finally played to its potential for one night.
Meanwhile, the Lady Bobcats advance to Friday’s district tournament championship at Dulce at 6 p.m.
At least he got a chance to see what it looked like before he hung up his whistle after three seasons with the Lady Dragons.
“They walked away realizing they played the best game that they could play,” Arredondo said. “That’s all we could ask of them.”
The Lady Dragons (6-15) used a fourcorners offense to slow the tempo down, and they only trailed 9-8 after a quarter. They managed just one free throw in the second quarter, and the Lady Bobcats pounced on the scoring drought to take a 25-9 lead at the half.
“We missed shots,” Arredondo said. “We missed them, but we took good shots. We played good defense. We gave up maybe five uncontested layups.”
McCurdy (14-11) only outscored Monte del Sol 27-18 in the second half, and Karla Santos, the Lady Bobcats’ top scorer, played the entire game.
“We were playing as hard as we could, and so were they,” Arredondo said. “With about 4 minutes left, Karla sat on the floor and her asthma started to act up. They brought an inhaler for her because she was tired, and we were tired, too.”
Santos had 17 points, while Alyssa Edmonds added 18. Alejandro Castillo led the Lady Dragons with 11 points, and Brooke Gallegos added six.
WEST LAS VEGAS 50, ST. MICHAEL’S 38
The Lady Dons made good use of late quarter runs to build a 32-28 lead at the half, then their pressure wilted the Lady Horsemen in the second half of the 2-4A semifinal in Gillie Lopez Memorial Gymnasium. West Las Vegas (19-8) takes on crosstown rival Las Vegas Robertson at 7 p.m. Friday in Michael Marr Gymnasium for the district tournament title.
St. Michael’s gave up four points under its own basket in the final minute of the first quarter as the Lady Dons took a 16-13 lead. In the third quarter, West Las Vegas outscored the Lady Horsemen 13-6 to take a 45-34 lead into the fourth.
St. Michael’s (12-14) didn’t score again until the final 2 minutes of the game, as the Lady Dons upped the margin to 50-34 by that point.
“In the second half, we lost our poise a little,” St. Michael’s head coach Martin Romero said. “Their press kinda hurt us, but that’s basketball. It was a nice district tourney run for us.”
Jenna Bustos led West Las Vegas with 12 points, and Alisson Hill added 11. Jocelyn Fernandez led St. Michael’s with 16 points, and Danielle Vigil had nine.