On a Saturday night when the fouls were hard, the play intense and the emotions taut, Makayla Holiday did everything she could not to give in to instinct.

The Santa Fe Indian School junior forward wanted to respond. So did most of the Lady Braves and St. Michael's Lady Horsemen on the court in Perez-Shelley Memorial Gymnasium.

"We wanted to get them back, but we knew we couldn't because we're representing our school," Holiday said.

Of course, the want to retaliate was strong when SFIS trailed 23-11 late in the first half. The Lady Braves did in the second half, but used the scoreboard for their response.

A 28-3 Lady Braves run eased the frustration on one bench, but added to the other as SFIS ran away with a 54-39 District 5AAA win that kept it in lock step with Albuquerque Hope Christian.

The Lady Huskies endured their own excitement in a 69-66 overtime win over Pojoaque Valley. It sets up a showdown that will be just as thick with drama in Hope's Ehlert Gymnasium on Tuesday as the Lady Huskies, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA, try to wrap up the district title with a win over the second-ranked Lady Braves, the two-time reigning Class AAA champions.

For a half, it seemed that SFIS (19-5 overall, 5-1 5AAA) was writing its epitaph to repeating as district champion. St. Michael's was the aggressor from the start, holding the Lady Braves to a single point for the opening 7 minutes, 12 seconds to fashion a 10-1 lead.

It was 14-3 after Cris Gabaldon hit a pair of free throws 31 seconds into the second quarter, 18-7 on Elizabeth Serrano's breakaway basket at 4:04 and 23-11 on Serrano's free throw with 60 seconds left before halftime.

St. Michael’s (18-6, 5-2) handled the Lady Braves’ press, committing just eight turnovers and the trio of Serrano (five points), Gabaldon (six) and Alexa Chavez (eight) led the way.

So what if Ashley Terry hit a free throw with :25 left for a 23-12 margin? It was Lady Horsemen heaven by that point.

SFIS was 3-for-22 from the field in the first half and 5-for-9 from the line. It spelled doom. Not even a technical foul on St. Michael’s post Alex Groenewold as she threw  guard Jennifer Willie to the ground going for a loose ball got the Lady Braves going.

However, it did rile up SFIS head coach Cindy Roybal, who was only a bench observer for the second game in a row as she recovered from wrist surgery,

Still, calm reigned in the locker room.

“We told the girls, ‘We’re only down 12 [actually 11],’ ” said SFIS assistant coach JoJo Valdez, subbing for head coach Cindy Roybal as she recuperates from wrist surgery. “I told them to cut it in half and just keep rolling.”

What happened over the next 11:52 of the second half was more than just a roll. It was an avalanche of epic proportions.

The Lady Horsemen turned it over three of their first four possessions of the third quarter as the Lady Braves employed a halfcourt trap that consistently forced bad passes and turnovers.

“Pace,” St. Michael’s head coach Martin Romero said glumly. “They pressured us and we didn’t handle it well. When we did get the ball past halfcourt, we didn’t run anything. They turned it into a ragged game and we bought into it.”

A Mysteri Jodie layup and two Bridget Lee buckets cut the margin to 23-18 and revived the SFIS faithful.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Holiday brought them to full song as SFIS took a 24-23 lead at 3:54.

"I just felt it, I had the shooting in me and I just chanced it," Holiday said. "The first half, I wasn't shooting that well. So I got just got my emotion back.'

Not even Chavez's jumper to give St. Michael's a 25-24 lead could stop the run. SFIS scored 15 of the next 16 points.

Jodie had eight of her team-high 16 points during the entire spurt. Chavez and Gabaldon had 10 points each to pace the Lady Horsemen.

Willie's coast-to-coast layup off a Lady Horsemen miss made it 39-26 and sucked the life out of St. Michael's. The ending was especially sweet for Willie. She found herself on the ground consistently, as she dove for loose balls and was knocked around several other times.

"They didn't break me," Willie said with a laugh.

That same could be said of her teammates, as well.

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