Vixens vex Lady Longhorns in final

By Ron Warnick

QCS senior writer

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ALBUQUERQUE - It stings for a team to lose to district rival after winning the two previous matchups. It especially stings when the loss occurs in the state championship game.

That's what happened to the Logan girls basketball team Saturday at The Pit at the University of New Mexico. District nemesis Fort Sumner-House dominated most of the game and cruised to a 54-36 victory for the Vixens' second Class 1A title in three years.

The third-seeded Lady Longhorns (23-8), winners of 11 in a row coming into the game, had won three of five matchups against the Vixens and seemed to have momentum for clash No. 6.

Instead, fourth-seeded Fort Sumner (23-7) outscored Logan 28-14 in the paint, and its defense stymied the Lady Longhorns.

Logan shot just 6-for-30 from the field (20%) in the first half when Fort Sumner surged to a 33-19 lead. For the game, Logan shot just 12-for-57, or 21%, from the field.

"I thought the last two games like we've we've really turned up our defense," Vixens coach Ben Segura said, referring to close victories over Magdalena and top-seeded Roy-Mosquero.

"And I think we we rebounded today probably the best we've rebounded," Segura said. The Vixens held a 46-36 edge on the boards.

Indicative of Logan's frustrations, leading scorer Desta Rose scored just two points. Marilyn Moreno wound up being Logan's top scorer with nine points. If not for second-stringers Presley Griffitt and Sadie Bruhn scoring five and three points respectively, the Lady Longhorns' gap would have been worse.

Emmarie Casaus scored 18 points to lead the Vixens, and teammate (and cousin) Allyssa Casaus added 15.

Logan coach Dustin Robertson said a lot of things went wrong for his team Saturday.

"We didn't handle the press as well as we have against them the previous five games," he said. "We didn't rebound well, and then we missed too many easy shots.

"I think our crowd was wanting a lot of fouls, but a lot of those shots that we missed in the paint, we should have been pump fake and shot faking ... get them in the air and going into them."

The game was close in the first quarter until the Vixens made a 9-0 run late to take a 17-8 lead. Fort Sumner led 33-19 at intermission and 47-27 after three quarters.

Robertson said the killing Friday of New Mexico State Police officer Dustin Hare, who lived in Logan, also cast a pall over his team.

"I didn't ask a lot of questions on what girls had what relationships (with Hare), but it was pretty hard on several of them," he said. "We were there for each other yesterday and this morning. But I was proud of the girls. They stuck together, and they had each other's backs."

Robertson said despite falling short on the team's goal of winning the state title, he called his players "one of the greatest group of girls I've ever been around."

"They truly love each other and worked hard for each other all year, all year long. I couldn't be prouder of them," he said.

Logan will lose seniors Hailee Robertson, Lizzy Horner, Camryn Cantrell and Laramee Shields from his team.

"Obviously they mean the world to me," he said. "We would not have been in this position without them. We'll miss them, for sure. And, of course, one of them was my daughter, and I love her, but I love all of them. They helped make this program and this team what it is. And our culture is pretty tight because of them."

Logan 54, Cliff 44

Rose scored a game-high 28 points to pace the Lady Longhorns to a 54-44 victory Thursday over second-seeded Cliff during the Class 1A semifinals at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

Logan surged to a 16-9 lead in the first quarter and made it stand up.

Robertson said a 2-3 defensive zone played a key role in the win.

"I just felt like with their quickness, we needed to go to that zone to help stop their penetration," he said. "We didn't do a good job of that at times, but I thought it helped. Luckily they didn't shoot as well as they usually do. And we rebounded pretty well out of that zone."

Cantrell totaled 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Longhorns. Logan commanded a 41-31 edge in rebounds.

Neysa Gutierrez led Cliff (27-3) with 19 points.

Logan 50, Jemez Valley 43

With the Lady Longhorns clinging to a four-point led, Rose made three of four free throws with less than a minute remaining to preserve a 50-43 victory over sixth-seeded Jemez Valley in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Bernalillo High School.

Logan trailed 19-14 after the first quarter, but rallied with scoring runs of eight and seven unanswered points during the second period to take a 28-25 at intermission. The Lady Longhorns never trailed the rest of the way.

Robertson said his team went to a zone defense to counteract Jemez Valley.

"They were a tough matchup for us," Robertson said. "We went to that zone because we had to. We didn't have any choice. We couldn't match up with them, couldn't stop their penetration. Luckily, they didn't hit as many shots as they needed to."

Logan took its biggest lead, 47-37, when Horner made a 3-pointer with four minutes left. Horner totaled 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Rose scored a team-high 24 points, and Cantrell added nine points and nine rebounds.

Kayla Chinana led Jemez Valley (25-5) with 25 points.