Thoreau girls fall to Robertson

(Editor’s note: Due to limited space, the Thoreau girls basketball story did not run in this week’s print edition.)

THOREAU, N.M. – The biggest hurdle the Thoreau girls faced on Tuesday night was turnovers.

The Lady Hawks committed 29 turnovers against Robertson, one of the top 3A teams in New Mexico. The visiting Lady Cardinals feasted on those turnovers as Robertson pulled away with a 45-33 win at Thoreau High School.

“Our turnovers hurt us,” said first-year Thoreau coach Joe Hernandez, who last coached at Grants High 20 years ago. “We lost by 12 and if we cut our turnovers in half and at least get a shot attempt we’re right there.”

Robertson established its defensive prowess from the get-go as the Cardinals came away with five steals in the opening quarter, which led to an 18-4 cushion. Freshman guard Arianna Martinez and senior Natalia Martinez scored six apiece during that initial onslaught.

“We didn’t get the looks that we normally get, but that’s a well-oiled machine right there,” Hernandez said of Robertson. “I mean, they’re tough. They’re ranked No. 1 in 3A, and they came into our house and beat us, but not by much because we beat ourselves, too.”

Nevertheless, the Hernandez-coached team finally got settled in as they limited their turnovers for nearly two quarters, as the Hawks pulled within 23-22 midway through the third. With more opportunities, the Hawks went inside as junior forward Collen Moses-Perry put up six of Thoreau’s second quarter points and trailed 23-15 at the break.

The Hawks continued to pound the ball inside with sophomore Kayliegh Dodge scoring two baskets to start the third. A three-pointer from sophomore Madison Woodie with 5:26 left in the third capped a spectacular 18-5 turnaround as the Hawks drew within a point (23-22).

The Cardinals, however, steadied their ship and seized a 35-24 cushion heading into the fourth.

“Our full court pressure got to them a little bit, but I knew Thoreau wasn’t going to quit,” Robertson coach Jose Medina said. “They played hard, and they were gonna get after it.

“You know, we were short-handed tonight,” Medina added. “We didn’t have our two big post, but my girls played hard. We were able to settle down and readjust things.”

The Robertson coach conceded that his team went away from what they were doing in the opening quarter as Thoreau rallied.

“We were forcing things too much,” Medina said. “Instead of working the ball and moving the defense with trying to get into the gaps or dribble penetration we got stagnant.

“That was the first team that played us zone the whole game,” he added. “Usually, teams are pressing us, playing full-court man, so we had to get used to that style of play and make some adjustments against their zone.”

In the fourth, Robertson upped its margin to as much as 43-25 before Thoreau cut into that lead late in the contest.

“This was a good game for both teams and hopefully a game like this will help us in the future,” Medina said.

The Robertson coach believes his team has a shot of playing for the 3A state title game next March if the stars align.

“If we stay healthy, and we keep working and getting better, we have a good shot of being there at the end,” Medina said. “We just got to work hard, believe and stay healthy. We can’t take anyone for granted because everyone is going to play hard in 3A. You know, those top five, seven teams we’re all good teams.

“You got to bring you’re A-game every night,” he added.

For Thoreau, Hernandez said it’s going to take some time for his team to find its footing.

“It’s a new program,” Hernandez said. “We’re just learning a new style playing, and we have a new defense that I just introduced. We’re very raw, we’re very undisciplined. Obviously, we do play well at times, and sometimes we don’t. We make mistakes, but that’s part of the game. We got to learn from it.”

Thoreau is scheduled to play in the Gallup tournament, opening the eight-team tournament with Albuquerque High on Thursday at 1 p.m.

“They’re ranked No. 8 in 5A and so they’re going to be a challenge for us,” Hernandez said. “We just got to learn on the fly.”

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