The Los Lunas girls basketball team claimed the Hope Christian Invite title on Saturday night, capping off a stretch that saw them win three games in three days.
The tournament began with a win over Bloomfield on Thursday in the opening round, 52-42. It was the second time this season the two teams had faced off and the second time the Tigers claimed a victory.
The first meeting between the two came at the beginning of December when LLHS won 64-37 over the Bobcats at home.
On Thursday, the Tigers were faced with a tough task in the West Las Vegas Lady Dons. The Lady Dons came into the game with a 10-4 record and ranked as one of the top teams in Class 3A according to MaxPreps.
However, Los Lunas showed why it is ranked as the No. 1 team in 4A by both the coaches and MaxPreps, as well as one of the top ten teams in New Mexico, and were able to dispatch the Lady Dons without much trouble.
By the second quarter, the Tigers had pushed their lead to double digits and were firmly in control of the game.
WLVHS was able to keep themselves within striking distance thanks to a hot hand from three-point range.
At halftime, the Tigers led 36-29 after the Lady Dons connected on a last second three pointer that cut the deficit back to single digits.
In the third quarter, WLVHS did a good job of keeping the deficit close to ten, but were unable to get much closer. In addition to their three point shooting, the Lady Dons were able to generate plenty of second chance opportunities on the glass thanks to a better effort down low to rebound the ball.
Over the final three minutes of the quarter, however, the Tigers took over the game and rattled off a 10-0 run to break things open and finally pull away. When the buzzer sounded to send the game into its final quarter, the Tigers led 59-37.
LLHS limited WLVHS to only eight points in the quarter in an impressive defensive display. Natalie Jojola was crucial for the Tigers and helped to spark the run, as she had the hot hand from deep and made the Lady Dons pay when the didn’t pay enough attention to her defensively.
While WLVHS was able to cut the lead back under 20, they were never able to do much more than that and had to resort to fouling immediately with a few minutes left in the game and a 15 point deficit, the Tigers were not rattled and claimed the 67-55 victory.
Ultimately, the Tigers were never really challenged by WLVHS and set up a meeting with Shiprock in the championship game on Saturday after the Chieftains dispatched the host Huskies 56-51.
Shiprock’s run to the title game was somewhat of a surprise, as the Chieftains came into the tournament with a 4-9 record. They blew out Taos 67-27 in the opening round before nudging past the Huskies.
Shiprock hung with the Tigers early and even led after the first quarter, 17-14.
The second quarter was incredibly low scoring, as the teams combined for 18 points. The Tigers scoring came exclusively on three pointers, two from Natalie Jojola and one from Dani Ross. Shiprock maintained their slim advantage and held a 26-23 lead at halftime.
Shiprock pushed the lead to seven early in the third quarter at 30-23 before LLHS closed on a 17-4 run to close the deficit and give themselves a ten point lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Chieftains never recovered and only scored six points in the fourth as the Tigers cruised to a 63-40 victory and the tournament title.
Next up for the Tigers is a showdown with Belen at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at BHS. The Eagles played at Valencia on Tuesday and held a 1-16 record prior to that contest.
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April 18, 2024
