Santa Fe High’s 2nd-seeded girls sent visiting Los Lunas away

It didn’t take much for the Santa Fe High girls to oust a Los Lunas basketball team with a surprisingly disappointing record, but now the Demonetes travel to No. 1 seeded Albuquerque High Friday night in quest of the District 5-5A championship.

Now at 16-8 overall, It was a resounding 53-18 dismissal of the Tigers, who at 9-18overall, did not have one of its usual successful seasons. And it didn’t help that Santa Fe High came away with a decisive first half, both on offense when the shots were falling, and with a harassing defense that kept Los Lunas from setting up shots.

While the Demonettes maintained their advantage at Toby Roybal memorial gymnasium, it was the defense that forced 15 Tigers’ turnovers over the first half, but the home side’s offense was not as much a factor with but 19 points at the intermission. But in the second half, after missing 18 of its first 23 shots, Santa Fe High finally got into gear by hitting 14 of its final 25 tries from the field.

Guard Leisha Diaz led the way with a game-high 13 points that included a pair of 3s, and Maci Cordova and Zuriel Vigil also made contributions to victory.

Now comes Albuquerque High, which swept the two games against the Demonettes, although in the Feb.4 contest, Santa Fe High rallied from a 12-point deficit to force overtime before losing 44-42.