Saturday, December 6, 2008

Girls Hoops: Lady Eagles give 5A visitors fits

Lady Tigers to host BHS on Tuesday

News-Bulletin reports

The Belen girls basketball team faced a stiff test when they hosted Class 5A Rio Rancho on Thursday, and even though they lost, the Lady Eagles (2-1) acquitted themselves quite well.

Belen guard Nicolle Sanchez carried most of the offensive load for the Eagles, as she hit six 3-pointers on her way to 20 points.

"I think she's averaging 19.5 points per game, and we really needed those points," Belen coach Danny Griego said. "She gives us a lot offensively and defensively. She's really come a long way."

Rio Rancho coach Bob McIntyre was also impressed with Sanchez and Belen's performance overall.

"They spread us out, and they had a shooter in the corner, and she hit six threes," McIntyre said. "I was glad that when it was all said and done, we came in here and got a great effort out of Belen," McIntyre said. "Both teams got better tonight, and that's what it's all about."

Rio Rancho guard Megan Muniz also had 20 points, and Tracy Fosterling added 12 for the Lady Rams (3-0).

Belen got off to a good start, going up 6-2 on Sanchez's 3-pointer from the left wing and Nichole Carbajal's three-point play off a driving layup.

Rio Rancho then ripped off the next nine points and eventually took an 18-12 lead into the second quarter. The Eagles then rallied with seven straight points on Sanchez's 3-pointer and layups by Franchesca Stark and Cierra Cox to retake the lead at 19-18.

The Rams then pulled ahead 27-22, but Belen's Theresa Mares made a driving layup and Casey Stambaugh made another as time expired to make it 27-26 at halftime.

Near the end of the second quarter, Belen lost Stark to a left ankle injury. Griego said that he wasn't sure when she would return, though he was hopeful that she would be back for the Eagles' next game at Los Lunas on Tuesday.

"Losing Stark at the end of the first half really hurt us because she makes so many things happen for us in our full-court press," Griego said. "Once she came out, we had to kind of get away from our full-court press, but Rio Rancho is just tough. They were relentless with their pressure."

Without Stark, Belen scored just five points in the third quarter, and Muniz hit three 3-pointers to help the Rams extend their lead to 40-31 going into the fourth quarter.

Rio Rancho continued to increase its lead to 48-34 with a couple of minutes to play, but the Rams started missing free throws and turning the ball over, which allowed Belen to close the final margin to nine points.

The Eagles will have a busy week ahead of them, as they play road games at local rivals Los Lunas on Tuesday and at Socorro on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Belen 87, Bernalillo 35

At Bernalillo on Tuesday, the visiting Lady Eagles (2-0) scored as many points in the first quarter as the Lady Spartans (0-2) had in the entire game.

It was a much easier win for Belen than its season-opening, one-point win over Manzano. Against Bernalillo, Belen shot 61 percent from the floor as a team, and Nicolle Sanchez led the Eagles with a strong all-around game, scoring 21 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out nine assists.

Casey Stambaugh added 13 points and eight assists, while Nichole Carbajal chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Theresa Mares and Franchesca Stark had 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Belen got off to a great start, taking a 35-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and effectively ending any chances Bernalillo had.

The Eagles continued to dominate in the second quarter, outscoring the Spartans 23-7 to give Belen a 58-18 lead going into halftime.

Bernalillo was more competitive in the second half, but the Spartans were still outscored 15-11 in the third quarter and 14-6 in the fourth quarter, as Belen took the 87-35 win.

One area of concern for the Eagles could be free throw shooting, as the team shot just 10-of-23 from the free throw line, despite its excellent shooting percentage from the field.

--John Gale

Winslow (Ariz.) 47, Los Lunas 17

A rough start led to an even rougher result Thursday for the Lady Tigers (2-1) in the first round of the 34th Gallup Girls Basketball Tournament.

"We won the opening tip, and turned the ball over on the first three possessions," said LLHS assistant coach Pat Powers. "We never got into a rhythym, and it's hard to keep up the intensity (that way). We just made too many unforced errors."

The Tigers went 0-for-9 from beyond the 3-point line, while the Lady Bulldogs (3-0) made 5-of-12. Los Lunas also struggled at the free throw line for the second time in three days, making only 7-of-16 on Thursday.

The Tigers, who never scored more than seven points in a quarter Thursday, managed only two points in the second period. Winslow, who also beat the Tigers at the Gallup tourney in 2007 and 2006, led 17-5 at the half and 37-12 after three quarters.

Powers said Winslow is one of the top Arizona teams in its classification. The Tigers lost 46-42 to the Bulldogs in the first round of the 2007 Gallup tournament.

The loss pitted the Tigers in a late Friday game after News-Bulletin press time against Window Rock (Ariz.), a team that lost 73-47 to Clovis in the first round on Thursday. LLHS beat the Fighting Scouts 57-47 in the seventh-place game in Gallup last year.

The Tigers will face either Kirtland Central or Silver, both Class 4A teams, in a Saturday consolation-bracket game. Tuesday, LLHS is set to host Belen on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Los Lunas 44, Gallup 31

Tuesday at the Tiger Activity Center, the host Lady Tigers scored the first 12 points of the contest, limiting the outside shooting attempts of the Lady Bengals (2-1) early and forcing a fast-paced tempo.

"For the amount of time we had to prepare for Gallup (one week), we did a good job of getting out on their shooters," said LLHS coach Shane Bell. "That allowed us to push the ball on offense early. Later, when we did have a few defensive breakdowns, all we had to do is re-organize and re-adjust.

Gallup (2-1) didn't get its first field goal until more than nine minutes into the game. By forcing the smaller Lady Bengals to drive into the lane, LLHS forced turnovers and ran fast breaks en route to a 12-1 first-quarter lead.

The Tigers led the entire game, their biggest lead being 16 points on a few occassions. Thanks partly to Tiger sloppiness in the open court, the Bengals went on an 8-0 run in the second half to trim the Tigers' lead to 31-23, but LLHS regrouped and protected the ball better for most of the fourth quarter.

Los Lunas took a 39-23 lead on a BreAna Gallegos 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter.

Priscilla Griego and Brook Serrano both led the Tigers with 11 points each, while Gallegos added eight.

Jeryn Wilson led the Bengals with 10 points, which included three 3-pointers. The win was the Tigers' first defeat of Gallup since 2004.

--Jason W. Brooks

Capital 63, Valencia 49

At Valencia on Tuesday, The Lady Jaguars got off to a great start in their first-ever varsity home game, but Capital roared back and took a double-digit win behind 3-point shooting and fast break points.

Valencia center Emma Hart scored 20 points to lead the Jaguars before fouling out in the last minute of the game.

Vandera Montoya and Sarah Romero did most of the damage for Capital, combining for 38 points and seven 3-pointers.

VHS got out to an 8-0 lead behind Hart's put-back and three free throws and Brenda Reyes' driving layup. CHS got off to a miserable start, not scoring until Nicky Martinez made a jumper with three minutes left in the quarter.

Valencia freshman Michelle Traynham made a 3-pointer from the right wing and had a nice block in transition, as VHS took a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Montoya picked CHS up with the next five points on a floater and a steal that led to a three-point play.

Andrea Wilson made a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Miranda Ibuado hit a jumper from the top of the key to keep Valencia ahead 21-15, but Montoya and Romero hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the left wing for Capital to tie the game.

A couple minutes later, Perez hit another 3-pointer from the top of the key to give CHS its first lead at 26-25, a lead which it would never relinquish.

Capital took a 30-28 lead into halftime, and Montoya hit another 3-pointer at the start of the second half.

Valencia battled throughout the third quarter, and Molly Holliday scored all six of her points on three layups--the last two after steals--to cut the Capital lead to 41-38.

But CHS turned the tables with three straight layups of its own, the last two off of steals, to give the visiting Jaguars a 47-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.

CHS cruised from there, as Valencia couldn't get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The Class 4A Valencia girls play at 5A Rio Grande on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Jaguars face the host team the first round of the Alice King Tournament in Moriarty on Thursday.

--John Gale

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