All-State honors for Peñasco and Pecos standouts
Carly Gonzales was hard to stop in the paint, so it was hard to ignore her when it came to postseason honors.
The 5-foot-9 senior post for Peñasco averaged 21.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game to lead the Lady Panthers to the Class 2A championship game earlier this month. That consistency made her an easy first-team selection for the Class 2A All-State team, which was announced Tuesday by the New Mexico High School Coaches Association. It was the third straight year in which Gonzales was named first-team All State.
Gonzales wasn’t the only player to earn that distinction, as Pecos junior
Trinity Herrera also made the first team. She led the Lady Panthers to the Class 2A quarterfinals, averaging a team-best 19.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.1 steals per game. It was the second straight year Herrera was named to the first team, while she and Gonzales were the only northern players to earn first-team distinction this season.
Peñasco also had a second-team selection in senior wing Adrianna Tafoya, who had a 13.1 ppg and 6.0
rpg average. She also led the Lady Panthers in assists (4.9 per game) and steals (4.4). Gonzales said she was thankful coaches around the state recognized her and Tafoya’s effort during the season, even as the COVID-19 pandemic kept people away from the last two rounds of the state tournament.
“I feel like that, with all the hard work as a team, it was great to be able to get recognized from other coaches,” Gonzales said. “The last few state games, it was hard for everyone to see the state games, I feel grateful for how the outcome came out.”
In Class 3A, a pair of Las Vegas players were selected for the second team in West Las Vegas junior guard Briana Marquez and Robertson senior wing Tessa Ortiz. Marquez was the District
2-3A co-player of the year with Ortiz and led the Lady Dons to the 3A semifinals. She averaged 18.3 points per game and dished out 6.4 assists per game along the way.
Ortiz missed the first month of the season with an ankle injury but returned to lead the Lady Cardinals in scoring (14.7 ppg) and assists (2.0) while finishing second in rebounding (5.7). She was a first-team selection in 2019, when Robertson won the 3A title.
Pojoaque Valley’s Michaela Martinez was the lone representative among the 4A selections, earning second-team recognition. She averaged a team-high 14.4 points per game, while also leading the way with 3.4 assists and three steals per contest.