Demonettes flattened by No. 1 Hobbs.
HOBBS — What started as a long day for the Santa Fe girls basketball team got longer by the minute.
The Demonettes’ season came to a halt in a 73-27 loss at Hobbs against the top-ranked Lady Eagles in the first round Friday of the Class 6A State Tournament.
Hobbs (28-1) started the game on a 16-0 run before No. 16 Santa Fe High got a jumper from senior Elena Gonzales with 2:22 left in the opening quarter. “Hobbs is a very athletic team,” Demonettes head coach Lanse Carter said. “They have a lot of skills. I think our kids at times were a little nervous starting out. Coming out and getting down 16-0 to start was tough for us. But then we started executing, some, and then started to get some things going.”
The loss ends the Demonettes season at 11-18. Carter, who was named interim head coach two days before Santa Fe High’s season opener in November, hopes to be back next season.
“I am planning to apply for the job,” Carter said. “I hope I get it.”
Hobbs led Santa Fe 21-8 after the first quarter and 41-15 at halftime. Three minutes into the third quarter, Hobbs’ lead grew to more than 35 points, leading to a running clock.
The Demonettes, which had five players score, were led by Taylor Salazar’s nine point, as their bad night got worse. They played without one of the their senior starters, Franchesca Valencia, who didn’t make the trip due to a family engagement. Early in the second quarter, they lost starting senior guard Katelyn Baca to a dislocated elbow and she was taken to the hospital for an evaluation.
“We had some open looks in this game and we just didn’t shoot the ball well,” Carter said. “It just wasn’t our night offensively.”
WEST LAS VEGAS 63, SOCORRO 41
The Lady Dons will get the rematch they wanted all along, after handling the Lady Warriors in Gillie Lopez Gymnasium in the opening round of the 4A bracket.
The sixth-seeded Lady Dons (21-8) got 14 points apiece from Alisson Hill and Jenna Bustos to set up a quarterfinal date with crosstown rival Las Vegas Robertson on Tuesday night in The Pit. They beat their arch rivals in the recent District 2-4A championship game.
West Las Vegas needed a dominant second half to make sure it got there. Leading 32-30 at halftime, the Lady Dons held Socorro to 11 points the rest of the way to get the lopsided win.
Brianna Marquez added eight points for West Las Vegas while Tiffany Encinias has seven. With six apiece were Jenika Padilla and Cameron Sandoval.