Practice is at a premium in Los Alamos.

Playing their fourth game of the new year, the Hilltoppers got back to their winning ways with a 65-47 nondistrict boys basketball victory over Volcano Vista in Griffith Gymnasium on Tuesday.

The win snapped a two-game skid for Los Alamos, which has been afforded one practice since the start of 2009.

"We missed a lot of opportunities that we need to work on," Los Alamos head coach Alan Kirk said. "Other than that, it was just a one-practice improvement from the weekend."

But for the most part, it was a blue-collar performance from the Hilltoppers, who ran out to an 18-8 lead after the first quarter, led 29-19 at half and 40-31 entering the final quarter.

Alex Kirk led all scorers with 22 points to go with 14 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists. Doug Hardy added 11 points and Jack Russell had six assists for Los Alamos (11-5).

Jordan Salcido had 13 points to lead Volcano Vista.

ST. MICHAEL'S INVITATIONAL

St. Michael's 67 Wingate 41

The Horsemen opened up a 22-12 lead after one quarter and never looked back as St. Michael's handed Wingate its first loss of the season.

Jordan Romero scored a game-high 27 points and Elijah Garcia added 14 for St. Michael's (7-3).

Brian Lee led Wingate (7-1) with 11 points.

The Horsemen led 33-23 at halftime and outscored Wingate 17-7 in the third quarter.

Santa Fe Preparatory 61, East Mountain 39

The Timberwolves designed their defense specifically for Prep's Joel Van Essen, but the rest of the Blue Griffins ruined the strategy in a nondistrict road game.

Prep (5-5) shredded East Mountain's box-and-one zone with a pair of 3-pointers by Ryan Romero and another by Jack Evaldson in the first quarter. It got Prep off to a 17-6 lead, and they increased the margin to 32-19 at the half and 46-29 entering the fourth.

Van Essen still led all scorers with 21 points, but he also had five assists and seven steals. Romero finished with 16 after scoring a career-best 24 against Escalante on Saturday.

"We played this game with a lot of effort," Blue Griffins head coach Chris Chakeres said. "We were balanced on offense. We did a good job finding the shots we wanted and obviously we were stingy defensively."

Mike James led East Mountain with 17 points.

Albuquerque Hope Christian 57, Española Valley 47

The Huskies led 32-19 at half, then survived a second-half surge by the Sundevils who came within 42-40 after the third quarter.

Balanced scoring was key for Hope Christian, which had four players in double figures. Matt Murphy and Josh Groening each had 12 points while Arren Wells added 11 and Kyle Elliott had 10.

Matt Brito led the Sundevils with 12 points and Donovan Maldonado had 10.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Mora 46, West Las Vegas 44 (OT)

The Rangerettes looked like they hadn't played in 16 days.

At least the Lady Dons played worse.

Down 32-28 heading into the fourth quarter, Mora (9-3) tied the score at 40 on Amanda Padilla's 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation.

Then Padilla scored the winning basket off of a Clarissa Garcia steal with
:13 remaining in overtime. They were the last of her team-high 13 points.

Otherwise, the Rangerettes' performance was pedestrian.

"We had been outworked all night," Mora head coach Mark Cassidy said. "They were pounding us on the boards and we were turning the ball over. We were very sloppy. Again, this is after not playing since before the Christmas break. I can't say we were the greatest team in the world."

Linda Esquibel led the Lady Dons (8-2) with 16 points. She was helped by Vanessa Lucero, who scored 11.

Desert Academy 55, Pecos JV 28

Corine Garcia showed her Lady Wildcat teammates what it takes to be a good free-throw shooter.

She hit seven of her nine attempts in the second quarter to pace a 14-for-23 overall effort by the team. That also helped Desert Academy (8-3) jump out to a 29-11 lead at the half.

Garcia finished with 30 points, and she also recorded 15 rebounds and six steals. Her head coach, Natalie Passalacqua, hopes the rest of the team follows Garcia's path at the line.

"Team-wise, we've been in the low 40s (percentage-wise) to upper 30s," Passalacqua said. "Tonight we were 57 percent, so that's a big improvement for us. Of course, we should be shooting 75 percent, if not higher. So, 57 percent is moving in the right direction."

Maredith Davis was the Lady Wildcats' other top scorer with 10 points.

Mesa Vista 62, Monte del Sol 24

The Lady Trojans didn't use the press in their first game of 2009, but they still got a workout.

Their man-to-man defense held the Lady Dragons to two points in the first quarter and eight in the first half to produce a 31-8 lead. Mesa Vista (9-2) also dominated the glass, as Carmelita Trujillo had a team-best 17 rebounds and Samantha Giron added 12.

"I was surprised because we've been away for a while," Mesa Vista head coach Richard Montoya said. "I thought they'd be on the rusty side. So I figured I'd use the man-to-man to get the blood flowing."

Trujillo led all scorers with 21 points, while Giron and Stephanie Gallegos each added 10.