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Demons took charge with a 19-7 fourth quarter
By Arnie Leshin
The Santa Fe High boy’s basketball team will have to wait until it finally meets up with Capital High next year, which would be Jan. 11 at the Jaguars’ court.
Friday night’s 61-46 victory over St. Michael’s in a non district game before an expected full house at the Perez-Shelley gymnasium put it at 2-0 (also defeated Santa Fe Indian School) in the city rivalries, with Capital still to be played.
But the next stop for the Demons (5-6) will be at the Hobbs Invitational when they meet up with Hirschi High (7-5) from Wichita Falls, Tex., on Thursday. For the Horsemen (5-4), they will go against Belen (6-3) the same day at the Clovis Invitational.
As for Capital, it winds up today versus Kirtland Central (7-2) in the three-day Eddie Pena Holiday Classic round-robin invitational at Grants. Friday, at Grants, it upped its record to 12-2 by handing Farmington (2-6) a 73-46 defeat.
On Jan. 2, the Jaguars play host to Los Lunas (8-1) in a non district match-up between two of the top teams in 5A.
As for Santa Fe High at St. Michael’s, it doesn’t take much to pack its gym, and by game time, seats were hard to come by.
It was nip-and-tuck in the opening quarter with four lead changes and the Horsemen up 14-13 heading into the second quarter. It was close here, too, and after three quarters, the Demons had a 42-39 advantage.
But the final eight minutes belonged to the visitors. Diego Salinas, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, led the way in that span with seven points and eight rebounds. Overall, teammates Victor Salcido, a 6-foot senior wing, and 5-7 junior guard Antonio Lovato had the team highs of 21 points each.
The contest was tied twice, 10-10 in the opening quarter and 33-33 in the third quarter. St. Michael’s last lead was at 43-41 as it was outscored 19-7 in the final quarter. Santa Fe High also had a slight advantage, 25-23, in rebounds.
So where as the Horsemen have split with Capital and topped Indian School, the loss to Santa Fe High put it at 2-2 in the four-school bragging rights. The Braves have lost all three of their city games and the Jaguars are 2-1. So the January contest against the Demons could decide bragging rights.
At Grants, Capital had three players in double figures with senior guard Tyler Alarid leading the way with 21 points, sophomore Antonio (T.J) Sanchez adding 19, and 6-3 junior post Matt Smith tossing in 13, with 11 of them coming in the first half.
The Jags went in front quickly, rolling to a 25-4 lead after one quarter. At the half it was 40-13, and heading into the final quarter the lead was 57-28.
In the other Eddie Pena game at Grants, undefeated Espanola Valley won its eighth in a row under new head coach James Branch by winning a tight test over Kirtland Central, 66-64.
The Sundevils trailed 35-23, but responded by outscoring the Broncos 24-11 in the third quarter, and went in front 47-46 to start the nip-and-tuck final eight minutes.
Indian School (6-6) doesn’t play again until it visits West Las Vegas (5-5) on Jan. 9.
