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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Lady Pintos Finish Year the Hard Way

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    Moriarty High senior Jacki Bailey sank five 3-pointers and had a game-high 15 points against top-ranked St. Pius.
    "The last couple of games I hadn't been shooting that well," Bailey said about her performance during Friday's girls basketball game at John B. Salvo Gym. "So, it was nice to get back into shooting it well. They were just going in."
    But Bailey's torrid showing was for naught. She and her fellow Lady Pintos (22-3, 8-2) ultimately fell to the Sartans 36-31 in their last District 5-4A regular-season game.
    "We didn't play great, and we didn't play awful," Bailey said. "Our defense did really well. We held them to 30-something. They usually score 60-something. We'll be OK."
    Moriarty juniors Kristin and Brandi Valencia, who usually combine for more than 20 points a game, were held to nine total points. Pintos floater Sara Mestas, a sophomore, provided some needed energy and three points off the bench.
    "We really stepped up on defense," said St. Pius coach Phil Griego, whose team was led by Caitlin Boal's 10 points. "But Moriarty's other players, who don't usually score that much, stepped up to score some points."
    The No. 3 Pintos are doing it the hard way. Last year, they had the best regular-season district record (9-1) and hosted and won the district-tournament championships, beating St. Pius 44-32.
    "We should have attacked them better," Moriarty coach Joe Bailey said of the latest Pintos-Sartans matchup. "We were too tentative in the first half. But we had a chance against the best team in the state. We had a shot to win it."
    Moriarty hosted the district-tournament semifinals late Wednesday. If the Pintos won, as expected, they will travel to St. Pius (23-2, 10-0) for the finals on Friday.
   
Moriarty boys
    The Pintos, in probably their last game of the season, fell 60-51 in a district tournament first round game at ninth-ranked Belen on Monday.
    The top two finishers from each of Class 4A's five district tourneys automatically qualify for the 16-team state field. The six at-large teams will be chosen by a New Mexico Activities Association selection committee.
    But Moriarty (4-23, 1-9) is virtually out of the running.
    "The chances are none," Pintos coach Frank Gonzalez said.
    On Friday, No. 2 St. Pius defeated Moriarty 87-49 at the Sartans' St. Sebastian Gym. It was the teams' final regular-season district game.
    Pintos senior Ben Gonzales had 12 points. His teammate, Marcos Villanueva, scored 11.
    "It was pretty close through the first half," Gonzalez said. "But they got more aggressive in the second half, and we turned the ball over too much."
    The first-year coach, the program's fourth adult leader in five years, is eager to come back next year.
    "I sure hope so," he said with a laugh. "I used my retirement money from (his time teaching and coaching in) Texas to buy seven acres of land between Edgewood and Moriarty."
    Summer tournaments are one of the keys to the Pintos' future resurgence.
    "It's going to be important," Gonzalez said. "They've got to learn the system and learn to work with each other, know where their teammates are on the court."
   
   
    Pintos hoops
    Next Up: Moriarty girls in District 5-4A tourney finals at St. Pius, Friday, 7 p.m. (if Lady Pintos won late Wednesday)