For the Mountain Mail
It was early Dec. 24 when the Lady Warriors returned home to Socorro. They were an extremely tired but an excited group after capturing the three-day Ben Lujan Tournament in Pojoaque.
In the finals, Socorro defeated Class 4A and fifth-ranked Espanola 54-50 to win the title for the first time since 2005. The Lady Warriors reached the finals by routing Pojoaque 56-35 in a semifinal matchup, marking the second time in two weeks they had downed the Elkettes. In the semis, Roxanne Silva had 24 points and Kianna Gonzales added 15, with four three-pointers. Brittany McDaniel added 13 points.
In the championship game against Espanola (9-3), Socorro (6-3) got off to a slow start but still managed a 10-10 tie after the first quarter. Silva got hot in the second quarter, scoring 12 points to the lead the Lady Warriors to a 29-22 halftime margin.
“We knew we were going to get off to a slow start,” Socorro coach Joseph Garcia said, “because the girls had been at the gym since noon, eight hours waiting.”
In the third quarter, Socorro had some untimely turnovers that led to easy baskets for Espanola, which took a 38-37 lead into the fourth quarter.
Espnaola built its lead in the fourth, extending the margin to seven points with 1:47 left.
Trailing by seven, Jaden Jones grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball in with 1:28 left. Silva stole the ball and passed to Tristen Peralta, who found Samantha Sedillo for a layup.
Trailing by three points, Socorro got the ball back and Jones passed the ball to Gonzales, who hit a three-pointer with 59 seconds left. The three was Gonzales’ only points of the night and Socorro’s only three-pointer.
Socorro again regained possession and Silva put a shot that missed. Silva, though, grabbed her own rebound and scored on the putback for a 52-50 lead with 21 seconds left.
McDaniel then made a steal and passed to Sedillo for a layup with two seconds left to ice the game for the Warriors.
It was an especially sweet win for the Warriors because the game was played in front of a predominately Espanola crowd. “Our girls played real well for the whole tournament,” Garcia said.
Silva had 27 points in the title game and Jones added 13. Jones, McDaniel and Silva made the all-tournament team.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment