Braves use power in the post
Bridges’ presence, rebounding put away Peñasco
It’s amazing what one 6-footer can do.
James Bridges gives Santa Fe Indian School a quality it has sorely lacked for … well, for a very long time. The 6-foot-1 junior is the kind of big man the Braves see on the other side of the court, the kind who usually dishes out the punishment in the low post.
Now, it’s a fair battle in the paint. Bridges showed that on Thursday afternoon in a firstround game of the Ben Luján Tournament against Peñasco. Bridges had 19 points and 14 rebounds to help the Braves breeze past the Panthers, 71-34, to advance to a semifinal game Friday against host Pojoaque Valley in Ben Luján Gymnasium.
SFIS head coach Jason Abeyta said Bridges’ development as a viable inside presence on both sides of the court has been a blessing.
“It’s been a while since we had a nice-sized big man,” Abeyta said. “We want to work through him and teach the guys to work inside-out. They’ll come around, I’m hoping.”
Having a big man might be a detriment for a program that thrives on playing an uptempo style, but Bridges is capable of playing that style. However, Abeyta wants to take advantage of the situation and help his team develop more of a halfcourt set. He sees it as a necessity down the road.
“That’s been the biggest thing for us, adjusting to playing in
the halfcourt,” Abeyta said. “In the past, we were just so much smaller than everybody else. This year, we’re not as small as we have been in the past. It’s a learning thing.”
The Braves (5-3) showed last weekend that they are capable playing against more physical, bigger teams, even though they went 0-3 at the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament. SFIS gave Santa Fe High a scare before falling 79-65 on Dec. 8, then built a 23-10 lead in the first quarter against St. Michael’s before the Horsemen rallied for a 65-60 win the following day.
It was an encouraging sign for the Braves.
“That Santa Fe High game, it was our best performance, but we really wanted to get that ‘W,’ ” Bridges said.
One problem Abeyta identified through the first seven games of the season is starting off slowly. It happened against the Panthers, as Peñasco scored the first two buckets of the game for a 4-0 lead before a 16-0 run turned the Braves’ fortunes around.
The turnaround happened in the paint, as SFIS grabbed five offensive rebounds during the run — and none of them came from Bridges. Marc Riley had a three-on-one possession before he recorded an old-fashioned threepoint play off a putback for a 13-4 lead with 3:52 left in the quarter.
“I think it’s just those pregame jitters,” Bridges said. “Everybody gets them, but that sluggish start almost killed us. That run was the best thing that happened to us, though.”
Even though Peñasco managed to cut the margin to 18-13 on Juaquine Fernandez’s bucket with 7:46 left in the second quarter, the Braves responded with a 13-2 run capped by Raheem Alonzo’s putback with 2:49 left to make it 31-15.
Alonzo said playing a smaller school like Peñasco was much different than the gauntlet of big schools the Braves faced last week.
“It just felt like open gym,” Alonzo said. “Everybody is just going up and down.”
Not that the Braves mind playing that style. They’re showing they can do more than that.
OTHER FIRST-ROUND GAMES POJOAQUE VALLEY 51, DESERT ACADEMY 12
The Wildcats were five-players strong, as a group of primarily eighth-graders and underclassmen battled the best they could against the host Elks.
They scored late in the second quarter to halt a 28-0 Elks lead, and finally broke through double-digits on the scoreboard when Damian Brown scored on a runner with 3:55 left in the game.
Otherwise, the Elks dominated play, leading 33-4 at the half and 39-6 entering the fourth quarter. Isaiah Herrera had 12 points to lead Pojoaque (1-2), and Avery Torrez added eight.
Brown led Desert Academy (0-5) with six points.
PECOS 80, MONTE DEL SOL 37
The Dragons hung around for a quarter, but the Panthers outscored them 23-11 in the second quarter for a 42-23 lead at the half of the first boys game of the day. Pecos had five players hit a 3-pointer in the first half, to go with a balanced scoring attack. Xavier Padilla led the Panthers (4-1) with 17 points, Mario Archuleta added 14, Josh DeHerrera 11 and Omar Dominguez 10.
Peter Lujan paced Monte del Sol (4-2) with nine points.
BERNALILLO 81, MORA 63
The Rangers were within 59-49 entering the fourth quarter before the undefeated Spartans pulled away to advance to a semifinal matchup with the Pecos Panthers.
Reyes Herrera and Luis Villegas combined for 14 points in the final 8 minutes to help Bernalillo (7-0) pull away. Herrera finished with 30 points, Villegas added 16 and Solomon Fragua 14. Jerome Pacheco led Mora (2-4) with 23 points.