There might not have been a more devastating message during a Christmas break that could have been given to the St. Michael's girls basketball team than the one head coach Martin Romero delivered Monday night.

After a lackluster 44-29 loss to Navajo Pine in the opening round of the Lady Horsemen Christmas Tournament in Perez-Shelley Gymnasium, Romero broke the news to his team: Every player would report to the gym today at 9 a.m. to scour game film of Monday's loss.

"I'm a teenage girl," senior guard Jamie Velasquez said. "Nine in the morning is horrible news when you're on break."

Whether Velasquez's statement was meant in jest or not, she acknowledged the performance put on by the Lady Horsemen, who combined to hit just 11 of 54 shots (20 percent) from the field and just 5 of 18 (28 percent) from the free throw line, was "embarrassing."

And St. Michael's (5-2) wasn't the only Santa Fe team feeling frustrated. Santa Fe High saw a second-half rally fall short with a 46-44 loss to Taos.

Despite playing a sloppy first half and trailing by as many as eight in the third quarter, the Demonettes scrapped their way back to a 44-44 tie with 1 minute, 3 seconds left in the game.

The Lady Tigers (2-6), content to play for the last shot, held the ball at half court the entire final minute until sophomore Gabby Garcia fired a 3-pointer from the top of the key that clanged off the side of the rim.

But the Demonettes rally went for not when Taos junior Monica Trujillo grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with 2 seconds remaining, setting up a pair of free throws and the 46-44 win.

"I just ignored the crowd and hit the shots," said Trujillo, who hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 3:43 of the game.

Freshman Selena Valencia led the Demonettes with 13 points and junior center Camille Romero added 11.

"We've been getting better, and we're still improving, so that's a positive," said Santa Fe High coach Elmer Chavez. "But we had a chance tonight. We get a box out or hit some free throws there at the end, we probably win the game."

Instead, the Demonettes will play winless Moriarty (0-5) in the consolation bracket of the tournament today at 3 p.m.

Taos plays Albuquerque Highland in a championship bracket semifinal at 4:30 p.m.

While the Demonettes frustrations stem from having played their best basketball all season, the Lady Horsemen frustration stems from the fact they aren't used to losing.

"What's so frustrating is we were outhustled all game," Romero said. "Defensively, we were so slow and had no energy, it looked like we were playing 4 on 5 out there."

For a team that generates its offense from the energy of its defense, it's no wonder, then, the Lady Horsemen had just two first-half field goals and trailed 25-9 at the break.

Navajo Pine (8-1), meanwhile, played to perfection the game plan the Lady Horsemen wanted to play. High-pressure defense created easy baskets for the Lady Warriors, who got 18 points in three quarters from junior Kyleigh Thompson.

"We feed off our defense, but we're actually a little disappointed with how we played tonight," Thompson said. "Out goal is to score 20 points every quarter, and we didn't do that in any quarter."

They didn't need near that much offense.

Thanks in large part to solid Navajo Pine defense, and in some part to simply shooting as poorly as they've shot all season, the Lady Horsemen were held without a basket from the 2:21 mark of the first quarter until Brittny Quintana hit a runner in the lane with 6:12 left in the third quarter, a drought of 12:09 without a St. Michael's basket (the team hit three free throws in that span).

"We've been playing defense like that all season," said Navajo Pine head coach Derrith Watchman-Moore. "It's not really surprising. We have a great group of girls who work hard and ply that hard every game."

The Lady Horsemen, who got a team-high 12 points from Tamara Quintana, weren't surprised by Navajo Pine's success as much as they were with their own struggles.

"We knew they were good and anything could happen," Velasquez said. "But it would have been nice to have at least showed up."

The Navajo Pine win sets up a big-time Class AA showdown with 10-0 Santa Rosa at 6 p.m. tonight in the tournament's semifinals.

St. Michael's falls to the consolation bracket of the tournament they've played in the championship game of the past two seasons. The Lady Horsemen play Valencia at 1:30 p.m.

IN OTHER GAMES

Albuquerque Highland 56, Moriarty 42

With a less-than-stellar 2-5 record heading into the tournament, it looked like more of the same for the Hornets early on, trailing Moriarty by six after one quarter and being tied 21-21 at the half.

Then Highland's offense woke up, exploding for 17 points in the third and 18 more in the fourth quarter to win going away and advance to today's semifinal against Taos.

Amber Trujillo led the scoring with 17 points and teammate Taylor Dennis was close behind with 15.

Moriarty was led by 13 from Jessie Rowe.

Santa Rosa 64, Valencia 45

Seniors Sara Tapia (18) and Renae Roybal (11) combined for 27 points and the Lions improved to 10-0 on the season with an easy opening round win.

Michelle Traynham, a sophomore guard, paced Valencia (6-3) with 18 points, 12 of which came in the third quarter.

Contact Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com or 986-3060. Read his blog at grammerschoolblog.com.