Steers, Cougars and Warriors girls basketball prepare for State Tournament

A season after missing the state basketball tournament, the Socorro girls are returning to the barn for another hoedown.

The sixth-seeded Warriors (17-6) will be hosting No. 11 West Las Vegas on Friday at 6 p.m.

“The girls have worked so hard to make it this far,” said Socorro coach Juan Alvarado. “And they’re going to be traveling. After traveling for two or three hours, that’s going to be a big difference this year.”

The game represents a rematch of the season opener when the Dons handled Socorro 55-45.

But the Warriors now are far different than the squad that lost in Las Vegas back in November.

“I only had six girls for that game,” Alvarado said. “We were missing three starters that day. That’s going to be a difference.”

Buoyed by four seniors and an unselfish attitude, the coach said he was encouraged for this season based on the way the team finished up last season.

“Last year ended up with a good note and a winning record,” he said. “That was a sign to me that we were going to be good this season.”

The Warriors don’t rely on one particular player to carry the load for them, but cousins Taelene Fowler and Tamra Fowler, along with Gabby Paz and Jalyndria Jackson have been pushing the Warriors.

“Right now, we have bonded very well offensively and defensively,” Alvarado said. “We’re shooting the ball very good, 30-40 percent from 3-points when they are hot and executing our offensive plays. Above all, the discipline on the court has changed tremendously. That’s a big key. My girls don’t worry so much about who is scoring. They don’t care about that.”

The Dons have struggled down the stretch, losing five of their last six. Meanwhile, Socorro is rolling on a seven-game winning streak, capped by a 50-38 in over Hatch Valley in the District 3-A tournament championship.

For Magdalena, reaching the Class 1A state tournament is something of a bonus for a squad that has endured more than its share of difficulty after coach Marleen Greenwood and her grand-niece died in an auto accident early in the season.

“We are a very strong-minded team,” said coach Sara Sue Olney, who took over coaching duties. “We’ve been through a lot. We’re family oriented. We play for different reasons than everybody this year. Ultimately, it’s definitely made us stronger and made us closer as a team. These girls have been pretty damn tough. They’ve been thrown a lot of different curveballs.”

The Steers (20-7), seeded 10th, will travel to Maxwell (21-4) for Friday’s 5 p.m. game that will mark the Bears state tournament appearance.

“It’s that time of the year, you just have to go beat people,” Olney said. “Anybody’s game at this time of the year, if you lose you go home so you just have to go after it.”

Although a defensive-minded squad, Magdalena is led by Kenzie Silva, one of five Steers seniors, who is averaging 11.4 points a game.

“She was one of our studs and was the district player of the year,” Olney said. “She stands out a lot because she scores a lot. We play good, hard defense. Post Jonnie (CQ) Willie plays well, and Jorianne Mirabal plays great defense. We put her on some of the best people in the state. We have a solid, well-rounded group depending on who is playing well that night. We show up and go to work.”

As a case in point, it was Mirabal that stepped to the forefront in the 45-29 district championship victory over Alamo Navajo with 14 points, while Willie added 10.

The Cougars (16-12) also made it into the state tournament for the fourth straight time, as a 12th seed and will play at No. 5 Gateway Christian on Friday at 5 p.m.

“We are so glad to be included in this year’s state tournament,” Alamo Navajo coach Randy Hunt said. “With everything that this community has gone through and our girls having to go remote and then back to in person and then back to remote, it has been hard to maintain any consistency in practices and games.”

Still, Alamo Navajo was able to advance despite the issues.

“Maybe, being selected to the State Tournament is our reward for dealing with all this crap,” he added. “We have a team of young ladies that overcame all of this and to keep up with zoom classes and tests in the classroom. My God, we are winners no matter what the score says.”

The Cougars are a short team with Hailey Apachito the tallest at 5-foot, 7-inches.

“But our aggressive defense can give taller teams problems,” Hunt said.

Apachito also is the team’s leading scorer at 17 points a game, with 11 rebounds. Sapphira Sandoval chips in 14 points and seven boards a game.

Alamo Navajo lost to the Warriors (17-2) 48-31 in December. But the Cougars were without high-flying starter Koolonna Apachito.