St. Michael’s hangs in there against undefeated Moriarty before taking a 44-34 Saturday loss in the Albuquerque Sandia Prep Holiday Classic

Penasco wins over Dulce, 53-40, Saturday to claim the girl’s championship of the Northern Rio Grande tournament at Pojoaque Valley

By Arnie Leshin

Moriarty remained on the undefeated list, but St. Michael’s didn’t make it easy for the Pintos in Saturday’s girl’s game of the Sandia Prep Holiday Classic in Albuquerque.

For Moriarty, the 44-34 win over the Lady Horsemen was its 14th consecutive victory. For St. Michael’s, its record evened up at 8-8 as it plays city rival Santa Fe High Monday night at Toby Roybal Memorial gymnasium in non district play.

St. Michael’s slowed it down and led 8-5 after one quarter, but was outscored 16-8 in the second quarter to grab a 21-16 halftime advantage.
It was 35-24 Moriarty heading into the final quarter, where the Lady Horsemen had a 10-9 edge.

The contest against the Demonettes will be the first this season between the schools, with Santa Fe High presently at 8-7. Both are under new head coaches, Martin Esquibel with St. Michael’s and Cindy Roybal with the Demonettes.

Junior guard Carissa Padilla, St. Michael’s leading scorer, again showed the way with 13 points that included a pair of 3s, 3-for-4 from the foul line, and five rebounds. Junior Joelyn Fernandez turned in eight points and brought down five rebounds. In all, the Lady Horsemen converted 11-of-16 free throws.

In the annual Northern Rio Grande tournament at Pojoaque Valley that concluded Saturday, Penasco (12-3) won the girl’s championship by turning back Dulce, 53-40, to send Dulce away at 9-5.

Third place went to Mora (5-9) as it nipped Espanola McCurdy, 37-36, and put the Bobcats at 10-5, Pecos took fifth via its 46-36 success over Escalante, and seventh place belonged to Questa (6-9), with its 45-36 win over Mesa Vista, which became 2-13.

Pecos, with its leading player, junior Cassie Muller, still sidelined with a knee injury suffered in this tournament, picked up a team-high 12 points from Trinity Herrera, and overcame a 18-10 halftime deficit via 1 23-6 run that brought a 31-24 halftime lead and moved its record to 8-4. The Lobos fell to 4-7.

In a non district match-up at Sandia Prep Saturday, it was Las Vegas Robertson rolling over the host Sun Devils, 51-15, after dominating Albuquerque Academy, 49-20, In the same tournament, St. Michael’s defeated Hatch Valley, 49-45, before losing to Moriarty.

In another non district contest, West Las Vegas (9-3) turned in a 76-48, romp over visiting Hot Springs (2-10).