ESPAÑOLA — There's the program that was and the program that is for Antonio Romero.

Romero, a junior wing for the Española Valley basketball program, once called Capital High home. That was as a freshman, as he watched the Jaguars in the twilight of a five-year run in which it was among the best Class AAAA programs in the state.

Saturday, after Española dismantled a short-handed Jaguars team 84-55 in Edward Medina Gymnasium in District 2AAAA action, Romero pinpointed the difference between the fading Jaguars and the AAAA contending Sundevils.

"We have a whole 10 (players) here who have leadership," said Romero, who transferred after his freshman year to Española. "It's very important when you play tough teams like Clovis and Hobbs and Hope (Christian)."

The win is the Sundevils' 15th-consecutive win this season and 13th straight over Capital since 2006.

Capital hobbled in without leading scorer Reece Goodman, who was suspended for one game after his ejection from a Jan. 29 contest against Albuquerque St. Pius X, a 57-36 loss.

R.J. Adams also was missing with an injury, leaving a 10-man bench having to call up players from the junior varsity.

"The kids were tired," Capital head coach Mark Senteney said. "They battled hard and fought, but it's kinda tough going up against a team like that."

The going was tough early as the Jaguars (8-10 overall, 1-2 2AAAA) missed five layups in the first four minutes, while the Sundevils marched to a 24-8 lead after a quarter. It grew to 29-8 on a Jacob Serrano 3-pointer with 7 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first half.

"One of the things we've been working on is coming out hard," Española head coach Richard Martinez said. "We came out hard and got a good lead and we got to keep the lead."

Capital managed to trim the margin to 39-24 at the half, and then to 46-36 on Paul Toya's layup with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

That's when Española (21-1, 4-0) simply turned up the defensive pressure. Capital turned the ball over 10 times the rest of the way, and the Sundevils exploded for a 24-6 run that ended on a Rodney Coles 3 with 5:16 left for 70-42.

"Coach said to just D-up and get easy buckets on transition and get back," Alvarado said.

Afterward, Senteney said the Jaguars need to re-evaluate some of the things it has done during a 2-8 stumble after a 6-2 start. It seems like the good times — when Capital won 56 games during a two-season stretch from 2003-05 and played for the AAAA title three times in four years — are in arrears for the program. Senteney said the talent level Capital has isn't as good as it was back in 2004, when it won the state title.

"You know, those things go in cycles," Senteney said. "Española is going through a good cycle right but, that's how it is."

Martinez, who is in his seventh year at the school, feels Senteney will get Capital back to the level it enjoyed, especially since he was with the program as an assistant coach during that 2003-2008 stretch.

"The big change is that (former head coach) Ben Gomez is out of the picture now, and coach Senteney is implementing his own philosophy," Martinez said. "And philosophies change from year to year. When I started (in 2003) it took me two or three years to get the program to where I wanted. I think coach Senteney needs a couple of years to get his program going."

Despite the downturn in Capital's fortunes, Martinez wasn't about to downplay the significance of the win over what was one of the state's best programs. Nor was he about to pay short shrift to the rivalry that has developed.

"I think there will always be a rivalry between us and Capital," Martinez said. "The demographics are very similar. I think pound-for-pound, I see them developing and growing. I see the younger programs, they are very competitive. You didn't see it today, but I think there still is a rivalry between the two programs."

But the pendulum is definitely in the Sundevils' favor.

You didn't have to be in Romero's shoes to see that.

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