Local teams got off to a good start in early games at the state Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) girls basketball tournament being played in Los Lunas this weekend. Well, most of them did anyway.
The Desert Valley Tigers, one of the top teams in the 16-and-under division, started slow but still managed to pull out a 62-52 victory over the Albuquerque Liberty in the first game for both teams played at Los Lunas High School.
The Tigers, who were runners-up in the tournament last year, found themselves in the unusual position of trailing by two points at the half.
Co-coach Pat Powers attributed the slow start to state tournament jitters. A change in strategy helped the Tigers overcome the fidgets.
“We changed our game plan a little bit and attacked the basket a little bit harder, and it paid off. We got to the line a lot in the second half,” she said.
Desert Valley, made up exclusively of girls from Valencia County, took 21 free throws in the second half. They took advantage of their opportunities, making 18 of them.
The Tigers held on to a precarious 56-52 lead with a minute and a half left to play. But Paige Powers, Leslie Artiaga and Kristin Daugherty combined to score the Tigers’ last six points from the foul line, to put the game out of reach.
Powers and Jessica Smith led Desert Valley with 14 points apiece.
Co-coach Bryan Smith said he wasn’t worried when the Tigers were trailing at halftime. “These girls have the ability to turn it on and turn it off whenever they need to,” he said. “They’re extremely good basketball players. I think they don’t know how good they can be. They’re far better than they realize.”
The Tigers will play their next game at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday in the high school gym against either the Albuquerque Elite or the Gallup Shooting Stars. Coach Smith said Gallup could be a wild card in this year’s tournament. “I don’t know anything about Gallup,” he said. “And Gallup (High School) won the Class 5A state championship this year, so I’m interested to see how they do.”
The Elite and Stars played late Friday night (no results were available at News-Bulletin press time).
Desert Valley has won two state AAU championships in the last four years. Each time, they met the El Paso Lady Swoops in the finals.
Coach Smith said it’s been a friendly rivalry, with both teams having tremendous respect for each other. But he wasn’t willing to predict they’d meet again in the final this year. ” I hope it comes down to that because those are fun games,” he said. “I’d be happy with that because it’s an excellent game to play and an excellent game to watch.”
The U-16 championship game is slated for 3 p.m. Sunday at the high school gym.
Another local team hoping to play in the finals is the Los Lunas Rockers, in the 11-and-under division. The Rockers won the title last year.
“I think we’re going to win this tournament again,” said Candice Guthrie, who plays post for the Rockers.
“We’ve been practicing a lot, and I think we’re ready to win,” added center Kameo Peña.
The girls said good coaching, shooting and defense are what make their team so good. The Rockers played their first game Friday evening, after the News-Bulletin deadline.
Another local team going by the name Rockers advanced to the second round in the U-10 division with a forfeit win over the Sun City Sparks on Friday.
Another local team called the Tigers beat the Santa Fe Heat, 44-27, in a first-round game in the U-12 division Friday morning.
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April 19, 2024
