No. 6 Escalante beats No. 3 Lordsburg
BERNALILLO — Strip away the seedings and the expectations that come with them, and it certainly didn’t seem like an upset.
Instead, No. 6 Escalante’s 55-35 triumph over third-seeded Lordsburg in the girls Class 2A quarterfinals at Bernalillo High School on Tuesday had the feel of a superior team doing exactly what it was supposed to do. In leading wire to wire, the Lady Lobos raced out to a 12-point lead after one quarter, increased the margin to 16 at halftime and were never truly threatened the rest of the way.
“I don’t really pay attention to what seed we come in,” said Escalante coach Tara Terrazas-Martinez. “We just try to come here and do what we know how to do, and that’s play ball. We don’t care who we’re up against. As long as we’re here, we’re continuing through.”
Escalante post Tori Salazar dominated the stat sheet, finishing with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, but there were others whose contributions were just as significant, if not as visible on paper. Case in point: Junior point guard Tanisha Torrez finished with five points and three assists, but her greatest contribution was consistently weaving through or outrunning Lordsburg’s pressure. Torrez played 31 of a possible 32 minutes.
“She’s been handling the ball since she was 6 years old,” Terrazas-Martinez said. “Her dad’s brought her in the gym. She’s been around basketball her whole life. [The team] plays really well under pressure. For me it’s a breath of fresh air because not many teams like to be pressed. We want them to press us because it means layups.”
Meanwhile, as the Lobos (20-7) were building a 16-point halftime lead, the Mavericks were firing up bricks. Lordsburg (19-6) shot a miserable 5-for-27 from the field and 1-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half. Anissa Plowman (1-for-10) and Gabrielle Olivas (1-8) led the futility in the first two quarters. While the percentages improved incrementally in the second half, it wasn’t nearly enough for Lordsburg to dig itself out of its hole.
Escalante will advance to play the Navajo Pine-Logan winner on Thursday at Bernalillo at 9:45 a.m. Terrazas isn’t quite ready to call her team underseeded, but the results speak for themselves.
“I don’t care where we are. We’re just happy to be here,” she said.
NO. 1 TATUM 60, NO. 9 MORA 28
Heading into the locker room at halftime, things were looking pretty good for the Rangerettes.
After all, they had come nearly all the way back from 15-4 first quarter deficit and appeared to have momentum on their side when Danika Hurtado buried a 3 from the corner to bring Mora (16-14) within 25-20 as the second quarter expired. From there on, the bottom fell out for the Rangerettes.
After Mora’s Erika Cardenas scored to make it 27-22 Tatum early in the third quarter, the Rangerettes didn’t make another field goal until 3:26 remained in the game. By then, Tatum (24-5) had runned and gunned its way to a 55-25 lead. The good vibes of the first half were a distant memory.
Mora coach Frank Romero had a succinct explanation for why things fell apart.
“We just didn’t score in the second half,” he said.
There were other reasons, as well. Tatum scored 20 points off Mora turnovers and although it only held a 32-27 edge on the boards, outscored the Rangerettes 20-0 in second chance points. Additionally, Mora defensive specialist Amarisa Romero picked up four fouls in the first half and played a limited role the rest of the way.
“She’s my leader on defense. It [foul trouble] affected her a lot,” Romero said. “Anybody can see that.”
Eight Coyotes scored at least five points, led by Adriana Duran with 14 and Kenna McNeil with 11. Maria Garcia paced Mora with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. After shooting a passable 40 percent in the first half, the Rangerettes shot just 11.1 percent (2-for-18) over the final two quarters. It’s a story Romero has seen before.
“Our offense has struggled throughout the season,” he said. “Our defense has been terrific, but our offense has sputtered. And it did again tonight.”