Karen Boehler
CCSR writer/editor
Ladycats Laura Orozco (21) and Lexi Mason (55) double-team to to get a loose rebound away from Bosque center Sophia Deichmann (23).
(CCSR photo by David R. Rocha)
HAGERMAN — The Hagerman girls basketball team was looking for revenge against Bosque Friday, and they got it.
The Hagerman Bobcat volleyball team lost its chance to advance to the Rio Rancho part of the state tournament in a close match to the Bosque ’Cats in November, and since most of the basketball players were part of that squad, they wanted to turn the tables in March.
They did, topping Bosque 32-20 in a low scoring but exciting game.
Because the Hagerman ’Cats only have seven players, their strategy is built around keeping everyone fresh, and they generally play a slow-down type game. But Friday, coach Casey Crandall tried something different.
“We tried in the first quarter to play fast, just because everybody knows we try to slow it down,” he said. “So the first quarter I just turned them loose and said, ‘You guys go as fast as you want. We’ll see whose game is better.’ Then when we could see a little more of a lead, I don’t hesitate to slow ’em back down and make the other coach have to come out a little bit.”
And that’s pretty much what happened.
After Bosque’s Sophia Deichmann put the first two points on the board, Hagerman’s Leah Dunnahoo matched that but despite the fast pace, the first-stanza was low scoring, with Bosque leading 7-6 on the strength of a 3-pointer by Marissa Martinez.
The scoring went back-and-forth in the second, with Samantha Dunnahoo tying the game and Lexi Mason putting Hagerman up, then the lead went back and forth until Hagerman’s ’Cats took the lead for good on 3-for-4 free-throw shooting by Sam Dunnahoo and Mason, ending the stanza up 18-13.
Neither side could get much of anything in the third, with Hagerman’s three points coming from the charity stripe while Bosque managed a pair of field goals.
The tide turned in the fourth, though, as Hagerman stretched the lead to 10 before Martinez got the first of only three Bosque points in the stanza.
“There was really no great advantage for one side or the other side, it was just pretty much whoever was going to score, and they just happened to score before we did and then we just couldn’t recover,” said Bosque coach Morvis Walker. “We have a young team, and when (Hagerman) got a few points up, instead of keeping our composure, we tried to rush things or maybe force things that weren’t there.
They were playing to that and getting the steal, and sometimes that’s how it works out.”
With such a low-scoring game, only Mason tallied double figures, with 11, while Samantha Dunnahoo just missed with nine.
Seniors Samantha Dunnahoo and Laura Orozco both played the last games of their high school career on the Bobcat court, and were thrilled with the outcome.
“It feels great. To win, especially, too, and to play like that it’s awesome,” Dunnahoo said.
“It was really exciting. This is my first year going to Albuquerque, so I’m pretty excited,” Orozco added.
Dunnahoo is the only member of the squad who’s been beyond the first round of the state tournament — she went as a freshman.
Crandall said his entire team earned the honor.
Hagerman Bobcat Samantha Dunnahoo (25) is called for a traveling violation in the first quarter as Sophia Deichmann (23) is there to block her path towards the goal.
(CCSR photo by David R. Rocha)
“I’m extremely happy,” he said. “Those kids played so hard. They practice so hard. They listen to everything. It’s wonderful that they get this opportunity to play in Albuquerque.”
After the game, the team sported shirt proclaiming them “The Lucky Seven,” but Dunnahoo said that name is a misnomer.
“It’s not luck, it’s all heart,” she said, explaining the strong fourth quarter was a team effort.
“I just gave everyone thumbs up,” she said. “We all have our certain jobs. Leah’s job is to rebound. Mine’s to get everyone pumped up so we all have each other’s backs. We pull together as a team.”
And Orozco said there was never any doubt they’d win.
“Yes, we all have faith in each other, so yeah. We knew we were going to win,” she said.
Just who or when the Bobcats will play Tuesday won’t be decided until the Class A-AA seeding meeting Sunday, but they will play at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, at either 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.
Because his team only has seven, Crandall is partial to the early-morning game.
“They have to get 12 (players) ready,” he said. “It’s one of those strategic moves. Nobody’s ready for that, but we haven’t hardly been ready for anything with just seven people. I’ll take our adaptive chances at eight better than anybody else.”
For more sports news, go to Chaves County Sports Report