Lady Horsemen run away from Elkettes
By Isaac Avilucea | The New MexicanPosted: 2/9/2012, 10:00 PM Mountain time
JACONA -- Amber Roybal stared at the rafters in disbelief.
The Pojoaque Valley senior had just watched another free throw bounce off the rim, and the look in her eyes about said it all for the Elkettes on Thursday night.
Not even the 15-footers were falling.
Not that things were much better for St. Michael's, but in a District 5AAA game where neither team blazed the baskets, the Lady Horsemen split the net a bit more often, helping head coach Martin Romero accomplish something he had failed to do in six years.
Win in Ben Luján Gymnasium.
Class AAA's third-ranked Lady Horsemen bombarded Pojoaque Valley by a 46-25 count, keeping them in a three-way tie with 5AAA foes Albuquerque Hope Christian and Santa Fe Indian School.
"We had to take care of business," Romero said. "We needed this game, or else all our efforts against Hope were for nothing."
St. Michael's (18-5 overall, 5-1 5AAA) beat the Huskies 48-42 in a crucial district matchup Jan. 31, but it would have been a moot point had it faltered Thursday.
There was none of that for the Lady Horsemen, just as much as there was no spunk in the Elkettes.
St. Michael's jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and only saw it dip under that once the rest of the night.
Pojoaque (10-14, 1-5) got within four points at 4 minutes, 31 seconds in the first quarter before Antarctic shooting conspired to sabotage its chances.
Sometimes, basketball is a simple game, and the Elkettes just couldn't manufacture enough offense to be remotely competitive.
The Lady Horsemen's matchup zone gave the smaller Elkettes fits all night. They cobbled together their lowest point total of the season. Before that, the fewest Pojoaque scored was 29 points against Miyamura.
"And we gave up more than I wanted to," Romero said. "It was defense first, for sure."
On the other end, offense proved Pojoaque's pancaking point.
Roybal in particular struggled mightily, going 2 of 11 from the field. She missed her first six attempts before getting a difficult leaner to fall in the third quarter.
The shooting woes were contagious for the Elkettes, who finished just 9 of 46 from the field. In the first half, the Lady Horsemen weren't much better, but finished with a respectable 47.3 percent from the field (18-for-38).
Six-foot post Alexa Chavez was responsible for most of those buckets. She used her size on the interior to score 13 points.
The Lady Horsemen also got solid contributions from their role players, as Elizabeth Serrano chipped in eight points, and Alex Groenewold came off the bench to score eight.
Chavez said Romero didn't have to stress to the players how important this matchup was. They already knew.
"Every game is a big game, and every game is equal to the other," Chavez said. "We have to do solid against every team. And if we don't, we're not going to come out with the victory. You can't slow down because anything is possible. And they could have started hitting. But we kept our composure."
Contact Isaac Avilucea at 986-3032 or iavilucea@sfnewmexican.com.
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