While basketball heads to the final weeks of district play in preparation for the district championships, the girl wrestlers took center stage with their regional championships last week.

Top seed Natalie Romero of Pojoaque Valley High School reached the championship match at 140 lbs. in the Region 1 tournament before losing to Kirtland Central’s Halley Robinson 16-8, but she still qualified for the upcoming state meet. The Elkettes scored 29.5 points to finish 20th among 31 teams.

Fifth-seeded Jazlynn Maestas of Española Valley High School won four of her six matches and finished fifth at 100 lbs. to also qualify for state. The Sundevils, who were hampered by injuries, finished 25th with 19 points.

Boys Basketball
Feb. 3

Taos 68, Española Valley 58 A good start saw the visiting Sundevils (6-16, 2-2 in District 2-4A) take a 15-7 first quarter lead and they were able to maintain a 25-23 halftime lead, but the Tigers got it going in the second half to get the win. Miguel Orozco scored 13 points for Española and Isaiah Chavez had 12.

Escalante 72, Questa 38 Four Lobos scored in double figures, led by Richard Glover’s double- double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Mateo Torrez contributed 13 and RJ Atencio and Antonio Martinez each added 10 for host Escalante (16-5, 4-1 in District 5-2A), which outscored the Wildcats 37-9 over the second and third quarters.

Pojoaque Valley 66, Los Alamos 53 Serafin Mendez recorded a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds and Ezekiel Atencio added 11 points for the host Elks (1012, 3-1 in District 2-4A).

Dulce 73, Navajo Pine 40 Eric Tsosie scored 24 points with eight rebounds and five assists, while Jaiden Yazzie added 22 points with eight steals to lead the host Hawks (13-8, 4-1 in District 1-2A) to a win over the Warriors. Dulce, who also got 10 points from Jamien Vicenti Jr., and seven rebounds and seven steals from Alexander Keeswood, jumped out to a quick start, leading 25-8 after the first quarter.

Coronado 48, Northwest 30

Feb. 4

Mesa Vista 57, Mora 22

Feb. 5

Escalante 53, McCurdy 38 The host Lobos (17-5, 5-1 in District 5-2A) broke open a game that was tied 24-all at halftime, outscoring the Bobcats (7-15, 0-6) 29-14 in the second half. Mateo Torrez had 12 for Escalante and RJ Atencio had 10, while McCurdy got 13 points from Emilio Espinoza and 11 from Chris Sandoval, all of his coming in the first quarter.

Feb. 6

Pojoaque Valley 40, Española Valley 33 In a game in which neither side could muster much offense, the host Elks (1112, 4-1 in District 2-4A), pulled away in the fourth quarter. Serafin Mendez scored 12 for Pojoaque, while the Elks defense held top scorer Miguel Orozco to eight points for the Sundevils (6-17, 2-3 in District 2-4A).

Feb. 7

Dulce 69, Hozho Academy 52 The visiting Hawks (148, 5-1 in District 1-2A) got 30 points and five steals from Eric Tsosie and Jaiden Yazzie added 18 points and four steals as Dulce took control of the district, using a 25-10 fourth-quarter surge to pull away from the Wolves.

Pine Hill 43, Coronado 36 The visiting Leopards (8-13, 2-2 in District 1-1A) allowed Elias Davis to score 14 points for the Warriors in a tough loss.

Mesa Vista 79, McCurdy 37

Girls basketball
Feb. 3

Española Valley 50, Taos 33 The host Lady Sundevils (14-8, 4-0 in District 2-4A) got 12 points each from Leah Vigil and Christiana Branch in a win over the Lady Tigers. Vigil scored seven of her points in the first quarter and Armani Lawrence had six as the Lady Sundevils got out to a 20-3 lead.

Dulce 62, Navajo Pine 30 Mattison Vigil and Emma Martinez-Pierce both stuffed the stat sheet for the host Lady Hawks (11-8, 2-3 in District 1-2A) with Vigil scoring 26 points with nine rebounds, seven steals and four assists, while Martinez-Pierce had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in the rout of the Lady Warriors.

Coronado 58, Northwest 39 Mia Gallegos had 22 points, while Chastelyn Jaramillo had 14 and Tracea Negale added 12 for the visiting Lady Leopards (9-9, 2-1 in District 1-1A), who stormed out to a 28-12 halftime lead before with- standing a third-quarter run from the Lady Falcons.

Escalante 46, Questa 42

Feb. 4

Pojoaque Valley 23, Los Alamos 13 The visiting Elkettes (156, 3-1 in District 2-4A) chucked a first quarter shutout in outscoring the Lady Hilltoppers 8-0 then relied on defense to get the win.

Mesa Vista 72, Mora 36 Aayiliyah Boies turned in a rare triple-double with 17 points, 12 assists and 10 steals and Aubrey Maestas had 19 points, with Isabella Gallegos chipping in 16 for the host Lady Trojans (19-2, 5-0 in District 5-2A). The game was close through the first quarter before Mesa Vista pulled away by outscoring the Rangerettes 32-13 in the second quarter.

Feb. 5

McCurdy 59, Escalante 38

Feb. 7

Española Valley 35, Pojoaque Valley 33 Kayla Quintana’s jumper from the corner with under a minute to play broke a 33-all tie and kept the host Lady Sundevils (15-8, 5-0 in District 2-4A) perfect in district play. Leah Vigil scored 16 to lead the Lady Sundevils and Kaydence Avery added 10. Mireya Suarez had 12 for the Elkettes (15-7, 3-2 in District 2-4A) and Monique Arrietta added 10. Hozho Academy 47, Dulce 43 The visiting Lady Hawks (11-9, 2-4 in District 1-2A) got 22 points from Mattison Vigil, but they struggled overall from the field, shooting just 28%. Still, Dulce held a 20-15 at halftime, but the Lady Wolves pulled within a point entering the fourth quarter then surged ahead over the final eight minutes.

Pine Hill 61, Coronado 40