ALBUQUERQUE — In a freshman, Ron Drake trusts.

Mainly because he didn't have much of a choice.

For more photos from the state basketball tournament: http://santafenewmexican.smugmug.com/

Española Valley High School's head girls basketball coach watched Los Alamos' Taylor Ealey eat up two posts — Marisol Peña and Desiree Howie — Tuesday and what he was left with was Lauren Salazar, a 5-foot-5 guard-now-turned-post.

Drake, though, never flinched at the thought.

"I knew she could do it," Drake said. "She's only a freshman, but she don't play like a freshman."

She didn't play like someone in her first Pit game, either. Salazar scored
11 points and helped slow down an injured Ealey as Española advanced to the second Class AAAA state semifinal in the program's history with a 51-41 win.

The Lady Sundevils (26-4) face No. 1 Kirtland Central on Thursday at 1:15 p.m. in The Pit.

Still, Salazar wasn't always the composed, smooth player she showed for 32 minutes of basketball. That happened during warm-ups.

"I was like, shaking," Salazar said. "Oh my God,
I was just telling myself, 'It's just another game, just on a different court.' "

But it was a different Ealey the Lady Sundevils had to contend with. The 5-11 senior post played like it was her last game, knocking down almost every single outside shot she found. She hit her first three shots — including two 3-pointers — as Los Alamos (20-11) raced to an 11-2 lead.

Ealey also benefited from three fouls on Peña, the senior post, and two more on Howie, which sent them to the bench.

Enter Salazar, who gave up another 3 to Ealey and then another in a 40-second span in the second quarter that made it 21-13, Lady Hilltoppers.

"We know she's a great player," Drake said. "She's the co-MVP of the district (2AAAA), so we know she's a good player. She hit four 3s in that first half, and I know they wanted us to come out on her, but we didn't want to do that."

But it was the second make that proved costly to Ealey and the Lady Hilltoppers. As she landed after her shot, Ealey crumpled to the ground and struggled to get up. She favored her right knee after that and, after a
16-point first half, managed only a baseline jumper in the third quarter.

It made guarding her much easier for Salazar.

"She was slower," Salazar said. "She couldn't run as fast. Because of that, we just said, 'OK, let's run her.' "

That, the Lady Sundevils did.

With their outside game silent
(0-for-6 from the perimeter in the first half), they scored the last eight points of the first half on layups (two) and free throws (going 4-for-4 down the stretch). Melanie Vigil tied it at 21 with a steal and layup with :09 left.

Vigil then did something Española couldn't do for the first 16 minutes against Los Alamos — she hit a 3-pointer. The 22-footer from the right wing handed the Lady Sundevils their first lead of the day at 27-24. Salazar followed with a fastbreak drive 28 seconds later for 29-24.

From there, Española answered every challenge the Lady Hilltoppers mounted.

Salazar answered Ealey's last basket of her career with a 3 for a 34-30 lead with 1:00 to go in the third. The fourth began with Salazar getting the roll on a drive to the basket for 36-30 at 7:31.

Howie's bucket with 6:08 left made it 40-33, but Los Alamos had one most charge in it.

The younger Ealey, sophomore Chase, scored four of the Lady Hilltoppers' next six points, and her putback with 3:58 left made it 40-39.

But the centerpiece for the green and gold was missing.

"She was done," Los Alamos head coach Tarah Logan said of Taylor Ealey. "I could not put her back in."

And here came the other District 2AAAA co-player of the year.

Española's Nisa Duran had a quiet nine points up to Chase Ealey's basket, and it was still nine when Howie hit two free throws with 3:37 left.

After that, Duran scored the final nine points to finish with 17 and continue The Pit experience she so desperately wanted since she was a freshman on the 0-27 team of 2007-08.

"It makes me real happy that we got this far, and to get this on our résumé and make history with our school," Duran said.

She and the Lady Sundevils are just 32 minutes away from more history-making.

Contact James Barron at 986-3045
or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com.
Read his blog at thereadbarron.com.