Pojoaque solves 3-point puzzle
Elkettes hold off late Lady Sundevils rally to go 2-0 in tournament POJOAQUE 68, ESPAÑOLA 55
Taylor Roybal was caught in a conundrum — who should she guard, Kaylee Chavez or Kaylinn Martinez? The Pojoaque Valley junior guard had to choose between the lesser of two equally hot Española Valley shooters, because the other defender in the Elkettes’ 2-3 zone was drifting toward the opposite wing. It left Roybal with two options — leave Chavez and her 17 points (at the time) alone, or cover Martinez, who had torched Pojoaque for 11 fourth-quarter points in a Day 2 matchup of the Lady Horsemen Christmas Tournament on Thursday in St. Michael’s Perez-Shelley Gymnasium.
“You just had to pick your poison,” Roybal said. “They were both pretty hot.”
Roybal elected to leave Martinez open, and she missed a couple of crucial open 3s down the stretch that helped Pojoaque hold off a 7-0 Lady Sundevils run midway through the fourth and pull away for a 68-55 win to go 2-0 so far in the tournament.
The Lady Sundevils (5-7) used the perimeter shot to their advantage, draining 13 triples to keep themselves right on the Elkettes’ heels. Martinez hit three of them in the fourth, with her last one getting Española within 54-51 with 4:41 left. Chavez followed with a free throw to make it 54-52 at the 4:12 mark, but Pojoaque showed the poise of a team that is now 11-1 on the season.
The Elkettes (11-1) consistently broke the Lady Sundevils’ press and attacked the basket, leading to a convincing 12-0 run that extended the lead to 66-52. Amid that run were some sterling passes from Roybal. The first came after Miranda Salazar threw up a scoop shot that sailed over the basket for a turnover with 3:47 left. Roybal got the inbounds pass near midcourt and raced downcourt with 5-foot-11 forward Ashten Martinez in tow to her left.
Roybal deftly bounce-passed to the streaking Martinez for a transition layup and a 58-52 lead.
The second capped the 12-point spurt when she flipped a pass from the top of the key to Shania Thronas as she cut toward the basket along the baseline. Thronas grabbed it and scored on a layup in one motion while collecting the foul. Her free throw with 2:23 left made it a 14-point lead.
“That was really a big one for
us,” Thronas said. “We know where each other wants the ball, and where we’re going to be and the speed of each other. We know how to work with each other.”
Española fired off its last salvo — a Chavez 3 with 1:30 left that completed a 20-point performance for the junior — but head coach Johnny Abeyta said his team’s perimeter penchant was more out
of necessity than design.
Much of it is due to the relative youth of the team Abeyta inherited when he was hired over the summer — half of the team comprises underclassmen and only Martinez and Chavez had significant playing time last season.
“We’re trying to teach them to be more aggressive and attack the basket,” Abeyta said. “We need to
develop our inside game. Once we do that to complement our outside shooting, we’re going to be all right.”
But the Lady Sundevils demonstrated a sharp shooting stroke. Their first 15 points came by way of the 3, and they led 9-2 after Anita DeAguero drained a wing 3 with 5:20 left.
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Pojoaque struggled with turnovers to start the game, committing five in its first eight possessions. A quick timeout settled the Elkettes down, and they broke the Española press and attacked the basket consistently. When Michaela Martinez drained a 15-footer with 2:17 left, Pojoaque led 12-9.
The Elkettes countered the Lady Sundevils by scoring 23 of its 25 buckets inside the 3-point arc, and 19 of them inside of 5 feet. Michaela Martinez was the primary beneficiary of the constant drives to the rim, scoring 17 points without the benefit of a 3, while Thronas added 14. Roybal accounted for Pojoaque’s only two triples, with her second one with 6:19 left in the fourth giving Pojoaque a 52-43 lead.
Elkettes head coach Seledon Martinez lauded Roybal’s performance, saying that she was maturing into a floor leader that he needs from his point guard.
“She’s fierce,” Martinez said. “She’s leading the team. She’s asking what we need, what I want. I am so proud of her. For two years, everybody was telling me stuff, but she deserves to be where she’s at. She’s our team leader.”
In other games:
ST. MICHAEL’S 54, COBRE 51
The Lady Horsemen showed the balance that head coach Martin Esquibel wanted, as three players tied for the team high in scoring with 10 points — Jodi Gormley, Karissa Baca and Joelyn Fernandez. Leading scorer Carissa Padilla and forward Sydney Halford each added nine, and it helped St. Michael’s (6-6) build a 49-40 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
That the post players combined for 29 points was what Esquibel wanted to see.
“It tells me we’re coming together as a team,” Esquibel said. “We’re looking for the post to get the ball to them, when we see that they’re asking for [the ball].”
The Lady Horsemen did a better job in the third quarter on Cobre forward Skkyla Guck, who managed just two points after scoring 13 in the first half. She finished with 24 points.
Cobre fell to 7-5.
ABQ. SANDIA PREP 54, ABQ. COTTONWOOD CLASSICAL PREP 35
It appeared that the Lady Coyotes might pull off the upset, trailing by just 37-31 heading into the fourth quarter. The dream died amid a 17-4 closing scoring run by the Lady Sundevils (2-6), thanks mostly to Teddy Torivio’s 10 points in the quarter. Torivio finished with 20 points, and Austin Tackman added 10.
Alicia Padilla had 10 points to pace Cottonwood Classical (1-6).