Española junior varsity squeaks by Prep

Española JV 97 S.F. Prep 92

Look out, here comes the Española Valley junior varsity boys basketball team.

Two years ago, the junior Sundevils rolled through Santa Fe Indian School’s Braves Classic bracket to win the varsity tournament. On Thursday, they took the first step toward duplicating that feat with a 97-92 overtime win over Santa Fe Prep in the opening round of the tournament.

It was a nip-and-tuck battle, but Española tied the score on its final possession when Jordan Duda drove to the basket, missed his shot but put back in the miss with 1 second left for 84-all. It was a battle of attrition, as Prep lost three players to fouls and the junior Sundevils had four sit on the bench.

Española JV head coach Dennis Archuleta felt his team’s deeper bench finally wore out the Blue Griffins.

“I think our intensity just won out,” Archuleta said. “They just really wanted the game and played some pretty tough defense down the stretch and we got some big rebounds.”

Christian Azipuro led the way for the junior Sundevils with 21 points, while Lorenzo Roybal had 16, Mario Aguino 14 and Duda finished with 13. Sam Sparks had a game-high 35 points to lead the Blue Griffins (2-2), while Sean Coles added 21, Dillon Abeyta 14 and Frankie Lanzante 10.

Espanola JV plays Dulce in a semifinal at 4:45 p.m. Friday.