Roundup: Roswell, SFHS battle for boys title

It will be the rematch few people thought about and the matchup that came nine months too late for Championship Saturday at the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament in Santa Fe High’s Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium.

While the city buzzed about a potential rematch between intracity rivals Santa Fe High and Capital for the boys title, the Roswell Coyotes instead will play the Demons’ foil for the trophy after beating Capital 68-66 in a a semifinal. Santa Fe High, meanwhile, overcame a 30-point performance from Valencia’s Garrett Wade to secure a 71-56 win in the evening game.

The two teams played on the final day of last year’s tournament, which had a round-robin format, and the Coyotes beat the Demons 55-52 for the title. The championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.

Meanwhile, the girls title game matches Las Vegas Robertson against Portales, two former Class 4A foes split apart by the latest round of classification and alignment this summer. The two teams were on a collision course to face each other for the state title last year, until Pojoaque Valley upset the Lady Cardinals 58-52 in the 4A quarterfinals.

Both teams return a significant portions of last year’s roster. Robertson beat District 2-3A rival Santa Fe Indian

School, 58-44, in a semifinal, while Portales rolled over host Santa Fe High, 49-25 in the other semifinal.

SFIS and the Demonettes will play for third place at 2 p.m. Saturday, while the girls championship is at 5 p.m.

Boys

SEMIFINALS SANTA FE HIGH 71, VALENCIA 56

The Demons relied on their pressure defense, and it forced 23 turnovers. It was enough to help the Demons withstand a 13-0 run. The Valencia Jaguars (3-2) got within 42-37 on Wade’s corner 3-pointer with 3:52 left. He had 12 points during the spurt.

Santa Fe High responded with an 11-2 run fueled by three turnovers and six points from guard Antonio Lovato. He was one of four players to reach double figures with 13 points.

“[Wade] played really well, which was good for us because it tested us,” Demons head coach Zack Cole said. “Right when the game was about to get away, he turned it on and kept us close. It put us in a situation where we had to take care of the ball down the stretch and make free throws. We didn’t rebound well, but we rebounded well down the stretch.”

Cruz Martinez led Santa Fe High (5-0) with 18 points, including three 3s in the first quarter. The Demons used a 16-4 run to take a 28-17 lead heading into the second. Christian Kavanaugh added 15 points and Fedonta “J.B.” White had 10.

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS ST. MICHAEL’S 59, ALAMOGORDO 48 The Horsemen (2-1) found themselves down 28-26 at the half, but outscored the Tigers 35-20 in the second half to advance to the consolation championship. They will face Santa Fe Indian School at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

St. Michael’s lived at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, hitting 10 of 16 to keep Alamogordo at bay. Hayden Lee was a perfect 4-for-4 and had six of his 11 points in the fourth. He was one of six players who scored at least seven points. Lee was only one to reach double figures as the Horsemen showed scoring depth. Thomas Wood had five of his nine points in the second quarter as St. Michael’s rallied from a 16-9 first-quarter deficit.

The Tigers (0-4) take on Los Alamos for seventh place at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL 53, LOS ALAMOS 40

The Braves (1-1) were forced to be methodical against the more deliberate Hilltoppers, but a 16-5 first-quarter lead held up. SFIS’ James Bridges scored nine of his 17 points in the opening quarter, and Jason Abeyta had 11 of his 15 points in the second half. Anders Pecos added 10 for the Braves.

Gavin Campos led Los Alamos (0-5) with 11 points, and nine came in the second half.

Girls

SEMIFINALS LAS VEGAS ROBERTSON 58, SFIS 44

The Lady Cardinals are just two games into the Jose “Majic” Medina era, but he likes what he sees. Against a team that has aspirations of challenging for district supremacy, Robertson (2-0) dominated.

The only hiccup came when the Lady Braves went on a 7-1 run to open the second half. They crept to within 25-22. The Lady Cardinals responded with an 8-0 spurt capped by an Alianza Darley steal and layup for 33-22 midway through the quarter.

“We took a timeout and tried to reorganize ourselves and get our [defensive] rotations going again,” Medina said. “And we had to start focusing again. Once we started focusing and making the right passes, we were able to build our lead back up again.”

Jazmyne Jenkins led the Lady Cardinals with 21 points, and 13 came after the break, while Darley added 16. Franki Chavez led SFIS (2-1) with 13 points.

PORTALES 49, SANTA FE HIGH 26

The Lady Rams jumped out to a 23-5 lead and never saw it shrink to less than 13 points. The Demonettes struggled to score without leading scorer Taylor Salazar.

Santa Fe High (2-3) got seven points from Angelie Griego, while Portales’ (2-3) Haylee Rippee scored 17 points in the paint.

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS ST. MICHAEL’S 40, VALENCIA 35

The Lady Horsemen endured a physical, turnover-plagued battle with the Lady Jaguars to advance to the consolation championship against Los Alamos at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The teams combined for 43 fouls, which St. Michael’s (3-3) used to its advantage to get to the line 41 times, hitting 23 baskets. Joelyn Fernandez was an efficient 12 for 16 from the line and had a team-high 17 points. Haley Garcia and Carisa Padilla each had nine.

Deasha Garcia led Valencia (0-5) with 15 points.

LOS ALAMOS 41, CAPITAL 40

Becca Green banked a free throw with 3 seconds left to break a 40-all tie. It almost wasn’t the only thing she broke.

“That thing almost broke the backboard,” Los Alamos head coach Lanse Carter said.

Green, a 5-foot-11 post, finished with 16 points to lead Los Alamos (2-3). Capital’s (2-4) Ethena Silva and Heaven Arciniega each scored 10.