By Polo C’ de Baca
For the Mountain Mail
LAS VEGAS, N. M. – In what turned out to be one of the most exciting and closest all-star games ever, the North All-Stars defeated the South 74-73 in the girls’ all-star basketball game Friday.
Jessica Pound, Socorro’s only graduating senior, was given the unenviable job of guarding 6-foot-2 Jackie Bartleson of Pojoaque. When Pound (5-foot-11) was in the game, she only gave up two points to the usually unstoppable Bartleson, who scored 20-plus points for the North.
“I do believe we could have won if we would have made our free throws there at the beginning,” Pound said. “Actually, we made a good percentage of our shots.”
Socorro girls’ basketball coach Joe Garcia said Pound was upbeat about her experience in Las Vegas. Pound started and played about 30 minutes of the 40-minute game.
“I thought she held her own,” Garcia said. “She represented Socorro really well. She’s a team player, and she does what they ask her to do. They asked her to guard the ‘big’ girl, and she did that. When I’d ask her not to score points, she did as I asked.”
The game was close all the way. The previous few years, the North blew out the South, and Garcia was pleased with the one-point margin, despite the loss.
Pound said she thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing with people who are normally Socorro’s opponents during the regular season. She said she will re-connect with quite a few who also plan to attend New Mexico State University in the fall.
“Even though we got second place, we all walked off of the court with pride,” Pound said.
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