Looking ahead for Pojoaque, Peñasco girls
It’s a pretty simple premise, really. Dribble the ball downcourt, spot the bigs underneath and dump it inside for a shot somewhere within a foot or two of the basket.
“It does sound that easy,” said Seledon Martinez. “But it’s not. Especially against an active defense.”
The Pojoaque Valley girls basketball coach’s quest over the next few days is to take the easy sounding thing and make it a reality. The Elkettes (22-8) have made it into the Class 4A state semifinals and will face No. 4 seed Albuquerque Highland on Wednesday in The Pit.
If the team wants a deep run in the playoffs, they will need a big week out of their 1-2 punch in the paint in senior Ashten Martinez and sophomore Tonni Aquino.
Both listed at 6 feet tall (although they both say they’re 5-11), each possesses the touch and strength to finish at the rim.
As their coach puts it, they might be the most potent low post duo still standing in 4A.
“These two girls with their size, their bulk and their brawn, they’re incredible,” Seledon Martinez said. “A lot of what we do goes through them. We have other girls we count on, but having girls their size where they are is huge for us.”
For Aquino, it’s all about following the lead of the older, more seasoned Martinez. A senior who has taken it upon herself to learn every aspect of the game, Martinez is also a team captain and one of its more vocal leaders.
“She’s my role model because she’s older and I’ve learned a lot from just watching her,” said Aquino, a sophomore. “Ever since I was little I looked up to her, and now that I’m playing with her she’s the one who keeps me up, keeps me motivated.”
Martinez has prided herself on developing a well-rounded game that includes the occasional ball handling. At times she is called upon to help break the press, something she did more than once in the Elkettes’ first-round win at home over Lovington. With the team’s guards overrun by pressure, Martinez was there to hurry the ball into position and calm things down in the half-court set.
“Coach always said that we’d have to learn to play every position, so him putting me there made me into kind of a ball-handler,” Ashten Martinez said.
As for Aquino, it’s a work in progress.
“I’m all right for now,” she said. “We’re getting there. That’s where me looking up to Ashten helps because I’ve seen her become that kind of player and it lets me know that I can, too.”
As the tournament’s No. 5 seed, Pojoaque Valley has the odds stacked against them for the remainder of the tournament. The Elkettes are on the same side of the bracket as twotime defending 4A champion Los Lunas, the tournament’s top overall seed.
Before that, however, is Wednesday’s game against Highland and one of the top players in the state at this level — Caiilee Crawford, the Lady Hornets’ 6-1 junior power forward who leads the team in scoring (18.9 points), rebounding (6.4), assists (4.0) and blocked shots (1.0).
Ashten Martinez is keenly aware of her. The two have been teammates on an offseason club team based out of Albuquerque, so scouting Crawford’s many moves is second nature to Martinez.
“Yeah, she’s a really good player, fast and she’s tough,” Martinez said.
Stopping her means plenty of tag-team work from the Pojoaque twin towers, a pair of players whose bloodlines trace to he standout prep careers of their parents. Aquino’s dad was a star at Santa Fe Indian School and Martinez’s mom was a decorated player at St. Catherine’s in Santa Fe.
“I’ve been working with a lot of the older girls on this team since they were in second or third grade and I know what they can do,” Seledon Martinez said. “I know where they come from and what I can get out of them. This is the state tournament and this is a time when all that work we’ve done together is going to pay off.”
Whether that includes a semifinal appearance Thursday morning in The Pit remains to be seen. Right now, the only thing that matters is casting aside all the stresses of school — Pojoaque is on spring break all week — and submersing themselves in the game that has played such a big role in the school’s championship history.
“We’re going to Albuquerque and we’re playing in The Pit, so it’s a time where we need our fans from the North to come out and help us,” Seledon Martinez said. “These girls, they need the support. These girls, they’ve done the work to get this far and now it’s time for us to come together and see what we can do.”