Defensive effort leads Santa Fe High to Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament title
Dec. 5—Zack Cole has seen good defensive performances by his Santa Fe High Demons, but Saturday night had him beaming.
The three days of the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament saw Santa Fe High's defense go from good to better to best. The best was saved for the tournament championship game, as the Demons forced two scoreless droughts and 24 turnovers to down Española Valley, 46-25, for the tournament title in a lively Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium.
It wasn't a night of perfection on the defensive side, but the Demons (4-0) hounded and pressured the Sundevils, a legitimate Class 4A contender.
Española suffered through two droughts that combined for 16 minutes, 28 seconds of scoreless basketball. The Sundevils were just 2-for-17 from the perimeter and hit just nine of 40 shots overall.
Yet, it took an 18-0 run over a 9:49 stretch in the second half for the Demons to finally pull away from an equally defensive-minded Española squad. Cole said it re-affirmed his belief defense is the cornerstone of any good program and his team has bought into that.
"This group, for some reason, has locked in on it," Cole said. "It's just the amount of effort they give. They're making mistakes, and we left a couple of corner 3s open because we're not communicating, but we're exhausted and we haven't played in front of a crowd this big.
"But it's learning experiences."
One thing the Demons learned was that the crowd can be an ally. That came in midway through the third quarter when senior forward Paul "P.J." Lovato collected a steal under the Española basket and raced his way coast-to-coast for a dunk that rocked the student section alive.
The play gave Santa Fe High a 27-20 lead and started the deciding run.
"I'd been waiting for one of those dunks to happen ever since our first game," said the 6-foot-3 Lovato. "I know when I get one of those dunks, it just energizes our team. I feel like when the crowd goes up, the energy goes down for the other team."
It had that effect on the Sundevils (4-1), as they missed 15 straight shots and turned the ball over four times during that stretch. They even missed a pair of free throws when Melakhi Jones missed two 19 seconds into the fourth, with the second not even hitting iron.
Santa Fe High senior guard Elijah Apodaca said the Demons' ability to use different types of presses kept the Española guards uncomfortable and forced them into poor decisions.
"We were just trying to confuse them a bit," Apodaca said. "We were just able to get some good shots off of it."
Lovato seemed to benefit the most from those opportunities. He scored eight points in the opening quarter to go along with four blocks, as he often drove the lane for layups. He also controlled the glass with 12 rebounds and had five blocks.
His championship game performance put the finishing touches on a tournament MVP performance. It was needed, as the Demons struggled at times on offense, especially with taking care of the ball.
They had 11 turnovers in the first half, which helped the Sundevils overcome a 6:50 scoreless stretch in the second quarter. Santa Fe High, which trailed 12-11 after a quarter, only led 20-11 when Sundevils center Ollie Fell threw down a baseline dunk with 1:10 left in the half.
Española crept to within 20-17 at the half, after Ricky Padilla completed a three-point play with about 30 seconds left before the break.
"Española has really active hands," Cole said. "You can get by them, but when you get the ball to 'The House' — the painted area — they're active and they're digging and clawing and poking at balls. It took a little bit to catch up and get a hold of that. I think we did a better job in the second half."
Third place
Taos 67, Capital 59Four days after the Jaguars manhandled the Tigers behind 12 3-pointers, Taos responded with a much-improved performance to take third place.
Capital (3-2) hit 10 3s for the game but could not force as many turnovers. The Tigers backcourt of Matthew Mondragon and Isaih Jeantete combined for 26 points, with Jeantete scoring 10 to help Taos take a 27-25 lead at the half.
Daemon Ely led the Tigers (2-2) with 19 points. Capital's Isaac Ortega hit six triples while scoring 22 points, and Anthony Alvez added 20.
Fifth place
Los Alamos 82, Santa Fe Indian School 44The Hilltoppers won the consolation title thanks to a 52-point outburst in the opening half to take a 52-25 lead. Niko Garcia scored 11 of his 17 points in the opening quarter for Los Alamos (3-1), while Joshua Watson had eight his 12 after the break. Mark Cleland had 14 points, and Elijah Ortiz 12 for the Hilltoppers.
SFIS (3-3) had Leighton Galvan lead the way with 18 points, and Owen Pecos added 10.
Seventh place
Valencia 40, St. Michael's 33The offensive struggles of the Horsemen continued, as they managed just two points in the third quarter. The good news was that the Jaguars also scored two points, but they led 27-15 heading into the fourth.
Ali Abdullah and Richie Baca led Valencia (2-3) with 13 points. The Horsemen (0-4) had Marcos Gonzales score 16 points, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter.
