Capital rebounds with strong defensive performance over Tigers
Nov. 30—Boys basketball
Capital 51, Taos 40
What happened: The smaller Jaguars played big when they needed to and beat the Tigers on Tuesday in a nondistrict game. After Taos' 6-foot-7 senior Daemon Ely scored 10 points in the first half, he scored 10 the rest of the way. The turning point was a 17-3 scoring run in the second quarter that turned a 12-11 Taos lead into a 28-15 Capital edge at the half. The Tigers got within 47-40 with less than a minute left before the Jaguars scored the last four points to seal the win.
Top players: Santiago Bencomo scored five of his team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Ortega and Isaac Ortega each had 12 points. Ely led all scorers with 20 points, but no other Tiger had more than five.
What's next: Capital (1-1) heads to Rio Rancho on Friday to take on Cleveland. Taos entertains Grants on Friday.
St. Michael's 40, Los Alamos 24
What happened: The Horsemen were already dealing with dings and pains — and that's not even including the football players returning. They were sluggish to start and only held an 11-10 lead at the half in both teams' season opener in Perez-Shelley Gymnasium. St. Michael's finally found its rhythm offensively in the second half, and scored 29 points after the break to give Gerard Garcia his first win as the official Horsemen head coach. He went 13-3 as the interim coach last season. "We got caught dribbling too much [in the first half]," Horsemen head coach Gerard Garcia said. "We need to move the ball and swing it to get open looks. We just got too stagnant."
Top players: Senior guard Adam Montoya led the Horsemen with 24 points.
What's next: Both teams will move on to the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament at Santa Fe High on Thursday. The Hilltoppers (0-1) play Santa Fe Indian School, while the Horsemen (1-0) get Valencia.
Girls basketball
St. Michael's 32, Academy for Technology and the Classics 26
What happened: Foul trouble plagued the Lady Horsemen at the start of the game. Putting the ball in the basket plagued the Phoenix at the start of the second half. The latter had a lingering impact, as St. Michael's outscored ATC 8-0 in the third to take a 24-20 lead into the final four minutes. "We just ran out of gas," Phoenix head coach Ron Drake said. "I've got seven varsity players, and we were down to six [in the second half]." The Phoenix built a 13-8 lead after a quarter as senior guard Lauryn Pecos, plus juniors Maddy Mossman and Ceciliana Ruiz, were in foul trouble. Despite that, the Lady Horsemen trimmed the deficit to 20-18 at the half. "The other girls were able to step in and do a good job," Lady Horsemen head coach Sonya Ruiz said.
Top players: Carmen Pacheco had a double-double for St. Michael's with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Monica Marquez paced ATC with nine points, but Nazarae Romero grabbed 15 rebounds and Siri Burkman added 13.
What's next: It's Thursday Tournament Time for both teams. St. Michael's (2-0) plays Española Valley at the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament, while the Phoenix (1-1) play Crownpoint at the Brian Gallegos Memorial Tournament at West Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Robertson 56, Capital 36
What happened: The Lady Jaguars got off to a terrible start, trailing 19-6 after a quarter, then 36-12 at the half before getting their offense into gear in the second half of both team's season opener in Edward A. Ortiz Memorial Gymnasium. Even though the Lady Cardinals had just one double-digit scorer, it showed balance with nine players recording points.
Top players: Robertson senior guard Azlyn Padilla had 19 points to lead all scorers, while Alexis Pacheco added eight. Capital had Kayla Martinez lead the way with nine points — all in the second half.
What's next: Capital (0-1) plays Albuquerque Manzano in the opening round of the Bernalillo Tournament. Robertson (1-0) travels to Albuquerque Hope Christian on Dec. 6.
