Sundevils let Scorpions hang close
James Branch called it “weird.” It might be the best way to describe the Española Valley and Capital boys basketball teams seeing plenty of each other without having to face off on the hardwood.
The two teams are a part of Grant’s Eddie Peña Classic roundrobin tournament, which started Thursday, and they get three games in as many days. It’s just that they won’t play each other.
Española started things off with a 64-49 win over Farmington in the afternoon session, while Capital rolled past the host Pirates 85-60, rebounding from a 63-50 loss to St. Michael’s on Tuesday night.
The Sundevils (7-0) lived off a 22-10 lead they built after a quarter, but they never could shake the Scorpions. After upping the lead to 38-25 at the half, Farmington (2-5) twice cut the lead to 10 points in the third quarter before Española pushed the margin to 51-37 heading into the final 8 minutes.
“The lead just kinda stayed right there in that 10-, 12-point range,” said Branch, the Sundevils head coach. “I just felt like we didn’t put the game away. We had some uncharacteristic unforced turnovers. Three consecutive times [in the third quarter], we threw the ball away instead of shooting the ball when we were already at the basket.”
J.P. Sena led the Sundevils with 17 points, and Brian Martinez added 10 as Española had 11 players score.
The Sundevils take on Kirtland Central at 5:15 p.m. Friday.
CAPITAL 85, GRANTS 60
The Jaguars nailed three 3-pointers in the first quarter to jump out to a 25-10 lead, and upped the margin to 56-33 at the half as they cruised to the win in the nightcap. Matt Smith had 22 points to lead Capital (11-2), while T.J. Sanchez scored 11 of his 20 in the second quarter. Aaron Garcia chipped in with 17, and Tyler Alarid finished the quartet of double-digit scorers with 10 points.
Capital faces Farmington at 3:30 p.m. Friday. SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL 58, HATCH VALLEY 41 The Lady Braves jumped out to a 16-3 lead after a quarter, then had to hold off a Lady Bears comeback that saw them trim the deficit to 28-20 at the half before SFIS regained control of the game.
Still, that first quarter left a big impression on Lady Braves head coach Christie Abeyta, especially coming off a frustrating 52-49 loss at Taos last week.
“[Thursday] was our night to reassert ourselves and play our game and not worry about that loss,” Abeyta said. “We wanted to make a statement that we are ones to contend with, and one loss was not going to make our season.”
Camilla Lewis continued to blossom, leading SFIS (7-3) with 14 points. Sister Leanna Lewis added 13, as did Hunter Garcia. FOOTBALL ALL-STATE TEAMS
Joey Fernandez Jr. of St. Michael’s and Arjay Ortiz of Las Vegas Robertson headlined the selections for the Class 4A All-State team, as both of them earned first-team honors on both sides of the ball.
Fernandez earned a slot at running back and linebacker, while Ortiz was named at quarterback and safety.
While Fernandez was a running back, it was his pass-catching skills that led to his selection. He gained 1,305 receiving yards on 60 catches — both school records — with 14 touchdowns to go with 374 rushing yards and another nine TDs. Ortiz ran for 1,694 yards and threw for another 1,424 to help the Cardinals to a third straight 4A championship appearance.
On defense, Fernandez collected 40 tackles (six for a loss), had an interception and recorded six pass deflections. Ortiz led Robertson with six interceptions and had 87 tackles — 57 of them solo.
Also joining the 4A first team offense were Horsemen Tayo Regenold, Cardinal Brooks Paulie and West Las Vegas’ Cassius Trujillo on the line. Regenold also earned a spot on the defensive line, while Juan Marcos Dominguez was a first-team selection at linebacker for Robertson even though he missed the last five games with a torn ACL. Cardinals senior Darian Duran was named on the defensive line/outside linebacker position.
The second team featured Dons’ junior Antonio Bustamante and Robertson’s Santiago Gonzales at running back. Duran joined Taos’ Amos Duran and Shane Martinez on the offensive line, while Bustamante also was the punting selection.
Steve Sandoval of West Las Vegas took a linebacker spot, Jeremiah Jacquez was a lineman/ outside linebacker for St. Michael’s, Paulie was an interior lineman and St. Michael’s Isreal Chavez earned a secondary position.