Ending with a bang
Gallup too big, too consistent in win, but Española puts up strong fight in first title game appearance
All the Española Valley girls team wanted Saturday morning were some missed shots by the Gallup Bengals.
Unfortunately, they provided plenty of those on their own basket.
Gallup’s inside duo of Jordan Joe and Hailey Long were too dominant in the girls Class 4A state basketball championship game in The Pit. They combined for 24 points and 14 rebounds as fourth-seeded Gallup pounded their way to a 63-51 win over perimeter-oriented and No. 2 Española Valley in The Pit. It was the sixth state title for Gallup, while the Sundevils made their inaugural appearance in the finals.
The two 6-footers all too often found their way into the paint, as they combined to make 12 of 24 shots from the field. Overall, Gallup was 26 for 49 from the field and 7 for 15 from 3-point range. Española made just 17 of 55 attempts and went 11 for 33 from beyond the arc.
Joe added four blocks on the defensive end as the Bengals (140) throttled Española’s offense by taking away the driving lanes. Joe Estrada, the Sundevils head coach, said the two bigs presented a matchup nightmare that was all too real for his team.
“Our big girl [junior Cameron Conners] is 5-9, 160 [pounds],” Estrada said. “Their big [Long] is 6-foot, 220-ish, and they got two of them. And they’re not just big, they can play. When you surround that with shooters, you got a good team.”
That was clear right from the start, as the Bengals connected on four of their six shots and found themselves up 10-0 before Española could even blink. Even though the Sundevils (13-2) got within four twice, Gallup simply moved the ball around and found a good shot to answer every run.
When Española got within 22-18 on Miranda Salazar’s drive to the basket with 6:19 left in the second quarter, Trinity Juan answered in kind for Gallup that started s 9-3 spurt to open a 31-21 lead. The Bengals also were unselfish, as they recorded 20 assists on its 26 baskets.
“When we started off fast, that gave us the momentum to carry it through the whole game,” Joe said. “When starting fast, it gives us that energy we need to push through.”
The margin ballooned to 41-25 on a pair of free throws by Michaela McCurtain with 4:30 left in the third before Española began a desperate run fueled by its 3-point shooting. To put it more succinctly, it was fueled by senior guard Anita DeAguero. She hit a pair of 3-pointers during an 11-2 run that cut the deficit to 43-37 with 11 seconds left.
DeAguero was 6-for-12 from distance, but none of her teammates could follow suit. The rest of the team went 5-for-21, but it was 2-for-18 before hitting its lasts three triples — including Miranda Salazar’s 45-foot heave at the final buzzer.
At one point, the Sundevils missed nine straight 3s from the second quarter into the third before DeAguero drained one from the left wing at 1:47 of the third. DeAguero, who was on the varsity team as an eighth grader when Española came a late turnover away from making it to the championship game in 2017, said she didn’t want to any negative thoughts creep into her head as Gallup forged away and stayed there.
“I just wanted to win,” DeAguero said. “I just wanted to stay positive through all the adversity and wanted to end it with a bang. We did, but that’s all I wanted to do.”
Gallup’s ability to both cover the Sundevils’ shooters and stop their dribble penetration left its opponent with few options. Bengals head coach Todd McBroom said his team worked on stopping Española’s guards from driving and relying on weak-side defenders to help if they got into the paint. The plan forced the Sundevils to make just six of 22 shots inside the arc.
“That’s why they would catch and have to up-fake and dribble it,” McBroom said. “They run a lot of offense if you don’t let them catch it at the [3-point] line [and shoot].”
Despite the disappointing finish to the season, Estrada said the six seniors on the team left an unmistakable impression on the program. The group was responsible for a semifinal appearance in 2019 as well as the program’s first title game appearance. Estrada admitted it will be hard not to see them in the gym as players any more, but was proud of what they did.
DeAguero called her senior year “amazing,” having played with many of the seniors and some of the juniors since she was in elementary school.
“Our chemistry is there, the love is there, the trust is there,” DeAguero said. “It will probably never go away.”