Española dispatches Lovington at state tourney
Win sets up wild semifinal match against Gallup’s Lady Bengals
Ca-ching!
That was the sound of Cindy Roybal mimicking the ticket counter in The Pit for Thursday night. The head girls basketball coach of Española Valley already saw visions of what Thursday afternoon would bring, and she was still 19 hours away from it coming true — or not.
Minutes after the fourth-seeded Lady Sundevils dispatched No. 5 Lovington — along with a two-year grudge Roybal held with the Lady Wildcats — by a 61-48 count in the quarterfinals of the Class AAAAA State Tournament on Tuesday evening, Roybal saw the future. It was a world in which one of the nation’s most popular arenas would be filled to the brim with a sea of redand-gold versus orange-and-black of the Gallup Lady Bengals in a AAAAA semifinal that Roybal expects to be a wild and raucous atmosphere.
Game time is at 1:15 p.m. — but don’t expect to get in at game time.
“It’s gonna be a sell-out crowd,” Roybal boasted. “There is no room in The Pit. … Sally [Marquez, the executive director of the New Mexico Activities Association], we’re gonna sell it out for you. Ca-ching! Ca-ching! Ca-ching!”
Roybal was in a good mood, thanks to the Lady Sundevils’ methodical dismantling of Lovington’s 2-3 zone in the second half — and the fourth quarter in particular. Española built a 38-31 lead entering the third quarter on sophomore post Alexis Lovato’s three-point play off a putback with :02.2 left.
With a three-possession lead, the Lady Sundevils (25-3) ran their spread offense to force the Lady Wildcats (1710) to either come out of their zone or extend it. Lovington opted for the latter, and Española attacked the basket with impunity. The Lady Sundevils got to the free-throw line 19 times, converting 15.
Meanwhile, Lovington couldn’t buy a basket, much less a break, this despite collecting 18 offensive rebounds on the day. The Lady Wildcats were 4-for-13 from the field, which was slightly better than the 13-for-55 effort (24 percent) overall.
“It just seemed like, on the offensive end, we couldn’t get shots to fall,” Lovington head coach Jason Parrish said. “It seemed like we were getting some decent looks, but the shots weren’t falling [Tuesday].”
The closest Lovington got to Española was 40-34 on Tayler Valencia’s off-balance shot off the glass with 6:45 left. The Lady Sundevils responded with an 11-3 run that was fueled completely by free throws, as they went 11-for-12 in that stretch.
When Lovato completed the run with a pair of freebies, it was 51-38 at the 3:47 mark. Lovato finished with 21 points, and 15 came in the second half. However, the Lady Sundevils continued to show they can play well even when she’s bottled up like she was in the first half.
With Lovington bottling up the low post, it was up to the rest of the Lady Sundevils to contribute. Alycia Archibeque scored six first-half points, while Leah DeAguero buried a pair of 3s and collected eight as Española took a 26-24 lead into the half.
“When they double-team Alexis, it just opened things up for us,” DeAguero said. “And when we start hitting, it’s opens things up for her.”
Parrish, though, was comfortable with that.
“I still think if we shut down 24 [Lovato], we’ll give them six points here or there,” Parrish said.
In the end, it quenched the thirst Roybal had in beating the Lady Wildcats, who beat her twice in the Class AAA tournament her last two years at SFIS — the first coming on lastsecond free throws in the AAA title game. However, she felt like her team had her back — and then some.
“I don’t know who wanted it more — me or them for me,” Roybal said. “They talked about it, but I told them, ‘The past is the past. We got a new history book to write in Española.’ “But it was sweet.” The next task, though, is to beat the top-seeded Lady Bengals, who beat the Lady Sundevils 73-62 in last year’s quarterfinal after almost squandering a 43-17 second-half lead. Are they ready for their chance at redemption? “Yes,” Lovato said. And is the NMAA ready for what might be one of the greatest girls semifinals payouts its history? Roybal has no doubts about it.
“Gallup and us are probably the two teams that will bring the biggest crowds,” Roybal said.
Ca-ching! Ca-ching!