Capital aims for high se routs Albuquerque A
Capital, with win over Albuquerque Academy, still has shot at high seed in state tournament
When a door closes, sometimes a window opens.
Amid the turmoil of the past week for the Capital Jaguars, Dominic Luna smelled opportunity. The freshman wing took advantage of it Wednesday, scoring 20 points and helping the reeling Jaguars regain their footing with a crucial 84-63 District 2-5A win over Albuquerque Academy.
Not only did the win halt a two-game losing streak, Capital (19-6 overall, 4-3 in 2-5A) has hopes that it can force a tie with Albuquerque Del Norte for second place. A Jaguars win over Los Alamos, coupled with a Knights loss to 2-5A champion Española Valley, on Saturday will secure a tie and help the team’s chances of earning a high seed for the Class 5A State Tournament. The Jaguars acknowledged they knew the stakes coming in this week, and it set the tone in the practices leading into the game against Academy. “We came into this game with intensity,” Luna said. “This game, and next game. This win was big. It was kinda scary coming in here losing two games in a row. With our mindset like that, we had to come out here with intensity.”
But the last thing a hungry, wounded team with that kind of mindset wanted to hear was a whistle. Unfortunately, both the Jaguars and the Chargers (6-19, 2-6) heard it plenty. Both teams had six fouls by the end of the first quarter, and the Jaguars sat three post players — Aaron Garcia, Seth Arroyos and Enrique Gurule — on the bench with at least two fouls midway through the second.
Garcia had three with seven minutes left in the first half and ended up fouling out early in the fourth.
“It was difficult because our biggest guys, they got them two [fouls],” Capital senior guard Tyler Alarid said. “It’s just hard because we have to use as much size as we can, and it affects all of us because we can’t foul out.”
Again, it opened the a window for Luna, juniors Siji Olivas and Chris McKnight plus sophomore Brandon Saiz to get some playing time.
Luna made his presence felt in the second half, scoring 15 points as Capital held off a cou-
ple of Academy runs that made things interesting. But Saiz had a pair of rebounds and a breakaway layup with 1:13 left in the first half that was a part of a 7-0 run that helped the Jaguars expand a 39-26 lead.
Olivas was credited with a tip-in since he was the closest to an errant shot that Academy post Chris Pullen accidentally knocked into the Capital basket for a 19-11 lead with 2:12 left in the opening quarter. McKnight drained a 3-pointer to end the half with Capital leading 49-29.
They gave valuable minutes that helped the Jaguars more than stave off the pesky Chargers. Alarid had 17 of his team-high 21 points in the first half and sophomore T.J. Sanchez chipped in with 12 at the break.
“We’ve been pushing each other in practice, and then on game day, we’re just saying, ‘Let’s go, let’s focus,’ ” Arroyos said.
Luna paid heed to those words. After suffering three sprained ankles through the first two months of the season, the freshman didn’t feel confident in his body until the district season began. Once he saw that his ankles could take the pounding of practice and games, Luna slowly began to work his way into the rotation.
He had 10 points in a 56-54 loss at Del Norte on Feb. 6, but rebounded from a scoreless performance against Española, a 90-66 loss on Feb. 9.
“In practice, my mind just started clicking with my body,” Luna said. Everything just opened up for me.”
It showed at the end of the third quarter, as she scored Capital’s last eight points to get the lead to 70-48 entering the fourth quarter. The seniors helped set the underclassman up, as Garcia and Alarid combined to score all of Capital’s points in a 9-2 spurt after the Chargers got within 53-38 with 4:55 left in the third.
The Jaguars also took advantage of all of the fouls being called in the second half by attacking the basket. After hitting six 3s in the first half, they only made one after halftime.
Instead, they went to the line 16 times, making 14. Luna was the biggest beneficiary of that mindset, going 5-for-6 after the break.
“We just realized we had to attack the baskets,” Alarid said. “Our shots were falling from the outside, but coach [Ben Gomez] always says to get to the rim. Draw fouls. Get to the line.”