LA Drops Española Valley To Clinch Girl’s Hoops District Title

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on February 12, 2023
- 8:14 pm

Seniors recognized before Friday night’s game, from left, Manager Ame Funaki, Kaitlyn Velarde, Michelle Macias, Tara McDonald, Mackenzie Echave, Carley Holland and Manager Jonah Johnson. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

Tara McDonald and Hailey Renteria face off to start the game. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Mike Cote
Sports
Los Alamos Daily Post

Although most of Friday night’s contest was a struggle, the Los Alamos Hilltopper girls’ basketball team picked up a win over an old rival and clinched the District 2-4A regular season championship.

Los Alamos didn’t get in sync on the offensive end until the final quarter Friday, but that was enough to secure a 47-36 victory over the Española Valley Sundevils at Griffith Gymnasium.

That win moved the Hilltoppers to 6-0 in district play. The Hilltoppers own the season tiebreaker over the Moriarty Pintos, the only team in 2-4A that could also attain 6 wins on the year.

That game was broadcast on the Los Alamos Daily Post’s YouTube channel.

It was another cold shooting night for Los Alamos (16-7 overall), but Los Alamos was able to win the battle in the trenches. Hilltopper starting center, Tara McDonald, and reserve post player Michelle Macias dominated the glass and turned back several driving attempts by the Sundevil guards.

Thanks in large part to the Hilltoppers’ effort under the basket, only three Sundevils scored in the game. Despite a gutsy, physical performance by Española Valley’s Rhianna Padilla, who ended up with a game-high 20 points, her team didn’t give her a lot of support on that side of the court.

In addition to her team-high 13 points, McDonald also had 3 blocked shots in the game. Macias, who had her best rebounding night of the season, also chipped in with 6 points, all of them in the second half.

The Hilltoppers got off to a slow start Friday. Padilla hit a pair of early 3-pointers and went up 9-2 in the early minutes.

But immediately after, Los Alamos’ defense clamped down – Abby Martinez was key, rotating from the perimeter into the key during numerous Española Valley possessions to disrupt the Sundevil offense.

Los Alamos led by just an 18-15 margin at the break and 30-24 after three quarters before McDonald got hot, hitting on a pair of putbacks in the final period to give Los Alamos breathing room after the Sundevils cut the lead down to just 2 with about 4 minutes left.

Martinez finished with 10 points on the night. GG Romero, Los Alamos’ leading scorer, came up with two 3-pointers, one in the first period and one in the final period.

With the district regular season title, Los Alamos also assures itself of a bid into the upcoming Class 4A playoffs. If the postseason seeds were released today, Los Alamos would likely be a 6 or 7 seed but could possibly move up to the No. 5 slot – barring a huge upset in the last couple of weeks of the regular season, the top four seeds are mostly a foregone conclusion with Kirtland Central, Gallup, Hope Christian and St. Pius X occupying those slots.

Tara McDonald takes a shot in the 2nd quarter. She had 13 points for the game. McDonald also had 3 blocked shots in the game. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com