SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
The Espanola Valley girls certainly made a lot of 3s from beyond the arch, but when you trail from start to finish, it’s in a losing cause.
Which is what happened to the 2nd-seeded Sundevils in their 4A championship game against 4th-seeded Gallup Saturday morning at the University of New Mexico Pit.
The Bengals broke on top from the outset, going up 10-0 before Espanola made a 3-point basket. Except from there, Gallup just remained in control in posting a 63-51 victory, its 14th in 15 starts. The Sundevils, who didn’t get any closer then eight points, finished at 12-2 after winning District 2.
As for 3s, Espanola threw up 27 and made 13, five coming from senior Deaguero Anita, and she led her team in scoring with 21 points. She was one of seven Sundevils seniors playing in their final game, and seniors Mirianda Salazar and Jordan Connors added 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Gallup, which received the game high of 23 points from junior guard Michaela McCurtain, led 20-12 after one quarter, a resounding 37-23 advantage at halftime, but was outscored 13-6 in the third quarter, but then answered back in the final eight minutes by extending a 43-36 lead after three quarters to 59-42, and from there it was all over but the celebrating for the Bengals.
Late in the third quarter, Espanola had cut the deficit to 41-33, but Gallup, which was good for seven 3s on 18 attempts, relied on a balanced attack led by the 5-foot-5 McCurtain. It out rebounded the Sundevils, came away with a number of steals, and picked up 13 points and six steals from junior Cheyanne John.
Espanola opened the shortened season with a fewer field tournament by romping over 7th-seeded Albuquerque St. Pius X at home. Then it got past 6th-seeded Kirtland Central, 42-38, before taking on Gallup, which has hoisted a number of championship trophies.
The Bengals won a close opener over 5th-seeded Albuquerque Highland, then upset top-seeded Portales, 77-63, on their way to the title game.
