SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
The Santa Fe Indian School girls will have no problem being in the field for the 3A state basketball tournament, and they continue to impress after visiting St. Michael’s Wednesday night and carrying off a 50-31 District 2-3A victory from Perez-Shelley gymnasium.
The Braves are now 18-3 overall and 2-1 in district, with the district loss to first place Robertson, which has only lost once in 20 starts. The Lady Horsemen fell to 9-10 overall and 1-1 in district after winning their district opener in Raton.
While Indian School pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring St. Michael’s 15-8 and going up 37-22, the Lady Horsemen’s problem was putting the ball in the basket. They took 52 shots and made only 11.
Said their head coach Martin Esquibel: “There is no consolation prize for how many shots you take. You got to make them, and that’s what I told the girls. We just got to keep them positive and focused. We just got to keep shooting in practice.”
Despite the poor shooting, the home side hung around until the Braves went on their third quarter run. Junior Carisa Padilla had the team-high 11 points for the Lady Horsemen, and 8th grader Lauren Pecos added six. Saturday, St. Michael’s travels to Robertson.
It’s also the night when the Pecos girls and boys begin District 7-2A with a doubleheader at Clayton, with the girls in the 5 o’clock opener.
Friday night, Capital’s girls head for cross town rival Santa Fe High in a District 5-5A contest. The Jaguars are 7-10 overall and 1-2 in district. The Demonettes have a 6-12 overall record and have lost their three district games.
Wednesday night, Santa Fe High hit the road for Albuquerque and took a 51-38 defeat at Manzano. The Monarchs (8-9, 2-1) held a 29-10 halftime advantage, but the Demonettes closed the gap with a 19-point third quarter.
Santa Fe High’s Taylor Salazar had a team-high nine points, all in the third quarter, while Angel Perez added five points in the same stanza.
Also on Friday night, there’s the first-place St. Michael’s boys (12-7, 3-0) taking the road to Robertson (9-8, 2-1) in District 2-3A play.
