Lady Sundevils headed to state quarterfinal after defeating Belen.

Lady Eagles try to get back into game, but Española hangs on to face Bloomfield next week in The Pit

ESPAÑOLA — Just when it seemed like a safe time to start preaching the negative virtues of “playing not to lose,” the Española Valley girls basketball team went and reversed course before it was too late Friday night.

Because they did, the Lady Sundevils survived and advanced in the opening round of the Class 5A State Tournament. A 10-4 run to close the game helped eliminate Belen and send the Lady Sundevils back to Albuquerque next week for another appearance in the state quarterfinals in The Pit.

The tournament’s No. 7 seed, Española Valley (16-11) will meet No. 2 Bloomfield on Tuesday afternoon after dispatching No. 10 Belen, 49-42, in Medina Gymnasium. It was the only game in 5A’s opening round decided by single digits and, coupled with Capital’s loss at Gallup, leaves the Lady Sundevils as the only team from District 2-5A still standing.

“The goal is reached,” Española Valley head coach Bobby Romero said. “One of them is, anyway.”

The team’s leader in interim status only, Romero pushed all the right buttons in the closing minutes of against the Lady Eagles. His team led by eight late in the third quarter and seemed to have the game in hand when a change in strategy to start the final period allowed Belen to crawl back into it.

The Lady Sundevils spread out their offense and slowed things down to a crawl in an attempt to burn time off the clock and shorten the game. It had the fans groaning when a pass was threaded to an open player with a clear look at the basket, only to watch that player dribble away or

pass the ball to someone else.

Belen responded by methodically cutting it to a single point with 3:27 left after the Lady Sundevils (16-11) had taken just two shot attempts in the first five-plus minutes to open the fourth quarter.

“I think we all kind of panic a little when we try to stall,” said guard Kaylee Chavez. “We’re never really sure what to do when we just kind of pass it around and aren’t looking for a shot. That’s when bad decisions are made.”

Chavez helped ice it in the final 90 seconds by hitting 4 of 6 free throw attempts, including a clutch pair with 19.7 seconds remaining after Belen’s Brittany Saiz buried a 3-pointer to cut it to 45-42.

“We’re a better team when we’re playing our style and just being loose out there,” Chavez said. “Once we did that, I knew we were OK.”

Chavez finished with a team high 15 points, getting seven of those from the free throw line. Kaylinn Martinez added 11 points, all of which came in the first half as the Lady Sundevils took the lead late in the first quarter on one of her three 3-point buckets in the first 11 minutes of the game.

Meranda Salazar scored seven of her nine points in the second half. After Belen had cut it to 40-39 midway through the fourth quarter, she grabbed an outlet pass after a missed free throw and drove the lane for a clutch layup to spark Española ’s late run.

That basket was the last of the night for the Lady Sundevils. Everything else came from the free throw line.

“I thought we did a good job staying composed when we had to,” Romero said. “As you can see, we’ve got no inside game and that can hurt us when we’re playing a team like [Belen]. They can make some of the plays we can’t, so it’s up to the guards to get some things done.”

Belen controlled the glass, holding a 33-21 edge in that category. The Lady Eagles’ Olivia King had 11 rebounds, more than twice as many as anyone on Española ’s roster. Martinez led the way with five boards for the Lady Sundevils.

“We know we’re going to have a tough time on the boards, but we also know we can do some other things that can kind of make up for it,” Romero said.

The win avenged a loss at home to Belen in January. That’s wasn’t too long before Romero’s life got more hectic in almost every way. He was promoted from junior varsity head coach to the varsity post after Johnny Abeyta was placed on paid leave.

Now a month or so into his new gig as interim head coach, Romero said all the credit goes to the players for making the most of a difficult situation.

“The season could have ended for us tonight,” he said, watching his girls file out of the locker room. “They’re still playing hard and because they are, we’re going to The Pit. Can’t ask for more, you know?”