Questa Ladycats Forging Through Season Strong
The Questa Ladycats have started this year dominating teams and bringing the magic back to the Questa Mini Pit. Many local fans are expecting much from the team this year, with a state run likely in their future. This team has been playing together since their earlier years where they were the Supergirls to a top dominating team in the 2A district. The team bond is evident with their flawless execution on the court. Coach Steve Rael has kept this team progressing forward confidently as they’ve worked hard to improve every season.
The Ladycat players have seen their share of defeats, tough district battles, state appearances, and early exits in state tournaments, but that can all change this year.
The Ladycats started the season beating top teams in the 2A district, including Pecos, Escalante, Dulce, Clayton, Santa Fe Prep, Mora, Raton and Penasco. They have also defeated teams in 3A and 4A including St. Mikes and the Taos Lady Tigers. The team is headed into their district games and they have one of the tougher schedules in the state.
The Ladycats took on the Antonito Lady Trojans on Jan. 17 and they dominated in every aspect of the game, ending 70-10. The Lady Trojans were powerless against the Ladycats’ defense with the Ladycats implementing a suffocating full court press.
When the Ladycats would steal the ball or cause a turnover, they would push the ball with precision, passing and scoring layup after layup. Coach Steve Rael has these ladies playing top notch northern New Mexico fast pace in-your-face basketball. The top scorers were seniors Aliyah Santistevan with 14 points, Kamryn Cardenas with 12 points, and junior Alyse Lovato with 10 points.
The Ladycats headed to Escalante on Jan. 23 for their first district game. The Ladycats were more than ready, starting the game slow. After the first quarter, they were warmed up and ready to go offensively in the second quarter. With the one-two punch of Kamryn Cardenas and Alyse Lovato scoring inside and out and feeding Santistevan underneath, the Cats went into halftime up 28-13.
With high intensity coming out of the locker room, the Ladycats continued their swarming defense with a lady-to-lady full court press. The Lady Lobos couldn’t do much on offense and had a hard time passing the half court stripe. Lexy Brown, Kiki Arellano, Booboo Gonzalez and the rest of the Cats put a swarming defense attack the rest of the game, allowing only 22 points for the Lady Lobos. The final score was 57-22 with the Ladycats moving on with another win.
On Jan. 25, the Questa Ladycats played their district rivals, the Mora Rangerettes at the Mini Pit in Questa. The Questa Ladycats dominated with a 51-23 win. On defense, Questa put in an in-your-face full-court lady-to-lady press and Mora had no answer. On offense, coach Steve Rael had the Ladycats moving the ball with a motion offense and fast paced run and gun fast break. Leading scorers for the Ladycats were Lexi Brown and Kamryn Cardenas with 13 points each. For Mora, Kaelin Vigil led with 11 and Madison Romero with 5. Aliyah Santistevan led the Cats with 5 rebounds and Lexi Brown with 7 assists. Moving on, the Ladycats played the Questa Lady Bobcats on Jan. 28 and the Mesa Vista Lady Trojans on Jan. 30.
The ranked Questa Ladycats will take on the Mesa Vista Trojans and it will be one for the ages. The Ladycats need to continue to keep the intensity up and play with that in-your-face defense. The offense will come easy with steals, fast-pace and efficient fast breaks. We are all looking forward to a deep run in the 2A state playoffs this year. Get ready, Ladycat fans, we are all in for a magical ride into the NM State Playoffs.
The Ladycats are 14-3 as of press time.
Wildcats Fight This Basketball Season
The Questa Wildcat boys basketball team has higher expectations than previous years. It’s been a tough go lately in Wildcat country, but coach Michael Rael and the Questa Wildcats are working to turn things around.
The team is young, with two seniors, five sophomores, four freshmen and an eighth grader on the roster. Starting for the Wildcats this year are senior Carlos Ortega, sophomore Jacovo Cardenas, Sophomore Juan Cisneros, freshman Urijah Griego and freshman Larry Roybal. Off the bench are senior Jacob Vallejos, freshman Lukas Cisneros, freshman Remington Smith, sophomore Matthew Vigil, sophomore Isaac Segura and 8th grader Trey Cloud.
In their final non-district game on Jan. 17, the Wildcats came out to play with a 68-27 blowout, beating the Antonito Trojans. The Cats came out strong, scoring 22 points in the first quarter. 10 points came from Carlos Ortega, who started off on fire. The team cooled down in the second only scoring 11 points but their defense was in-your-face full court press and held the Trojans to only 3 points at halftime. The Questa Wildcats came out of halftime swarming the Trojans with a full court man-to-man press. Antonito had no answer for the ferocious defense. The Wildcats ended the 3rd up 56-23.
The start of the 4th was more of the same. Great ball handling by Urijah Griego and Jacovo Cardenas driving and dishing the ball, taking it to the ruck with ease and scoring layup after layup. Big man Larry Roybal, Juan Cisneros and Matthew Vigil controlled the glass and dominated in the lane. The front court of these three didn’t allow much inside game from the Trojans. With great rebounding, boxing out, and blocking shots, the Trojans had no answer. The Wildcats won 68-27.
In their first district game on Jan. 23, the Escalante Lobos came out swinging and led at halftime 26-10. Questa came out of the half on a 6-0 run but couldn’t stop the offensive attack from the Lobos. Escalante controlled the 2nd half and won the game 52-20.
On Jan. 25, the Questa Wildcats played the Mora Rangers. The teams had an amazing back-and-forth run in the first half. Mora led by 11 at the half but Questa hung in there with Coach Michael Rael implementing a full court man-to-man press. Exceptional ball movement on offense. Mora’s two guards were hard to deal with in the second half of play with take-the-ball-to-the-rack approach. Going into the fourth still down 11, the Wildcats gave their all but couldn’t make their comeback. Mora ended the game on a 10-0 run beating the Wildcats 72-46. Great northern NM ball at Questa’s Mini Pit. Leading scorers for Questa were Jacovo Cardenas with 13 and Urijah Griego with 13. Mora Rangers leading scorers were Derek Duran with 19 and Camden Montoya with 14.
The Wildcats will need to continue that run-and-gun fast break northern New Mexico offense for their upcoming games.
