Behind stellar frontcourt, Lady Spartans upset Santa Fe Indian at home

BERNALILLO - They say “Heart Over Height”, but why not both?

Behind a dominating performance from their front court, the Bernalillo Spartans pulled off the upset against Santa Fe Indian High, 58-47, to improve to 4-0 on the season.

Bernalillo leaned on their presence down low in Trinity Calabaza and Samaria Brown, who combined for 32 of the Spartans’ 58 points. Calabaza was the leading scorer with 22 points on top of 14 rebounds for her first double-double of the year.

“I really think we played all four quarters without giving up,” Calabaza said. “We all stepped up when we needed to, and overall, we played as a team.”

Santa Fe Indian enters the season as the top-ranked team in 3A, but if you were in attendance on Tuesday night, you would’ve thought it was the Spartans sporting a top ranking. Bernalillo led wire-to-wire, despite arguably not playing their best basketball all the way through.

Turnovers and spotty rebounding at certain points hurt the Spartans, allowing the Braves’ signature three-point shooting and guard play to get going. Bernalillo totaled 15 turnovers as a team, with eight different Spartans tallying one or more.

But, as Calabaza mentioned, Bernalillo did not let this derail them and stepped up when it mattered most.

“We knew they would be fast and have shooters,” Brown said. “Our goal was to prevent easy layups, get out on shooters, and out-rebound them. We wanted to stay in control of the game.”

An emphasis on control fended off each SFI push, including a Spartan 6-0 run just before halftime to take a seven-point lead in what was a one-point game, as well as outscoring the Braves 17-9 in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.

“We wanted this win, and we knew it was going to take a full team to win,” Calabaza said. “We played hard and worked together. We never let them take us out of our game.”

Thanks to the scoring stability of Calabaza and Brown in the paint, it allowed Bernalillo’s guard play to come alive as the game progressed. Jillian Lovato put together some clutch shots on her 12-point night, her third game of the year in double figures, while Kailani Trancosa came through in the fourth quarter in a six-point, four-assist game.

A major factor you won’t see in the box score was the energy in the building for this big-time matchup. Just about every bleacher row was filled, and the Spartans fed off of it, including hustle plays from Gabriella Dominguez and Rayann Downing.

“Our team is a group of young ladies who want to make a statement and show who we are,” Calabaza said. “I think this (4-0) run is all because of our effort and teamwork.”

Bernalillo will now take its four-game win streak into the Alice King Invitational at Moriarty High School, with its first-round date set for a meeting with Roswell High.