‘We can play ranked teams’---Lady Hawks Earn 8 seed

“Pretty excited where we got placed,” said an energized first year head coach Lacey Natseway of the Laguna-Acoma lady Hawks who received an 8 seed to the Nusenda Credit Union state girls basketball tournament. They will host the Questa Wildcats (19-10, 64) on Friday, March 8th at 5:00pm.

“We started the season slow–the girls came back and proved we can play with ranked teams,” said Natseway of her road to the state tournament. The lady Hawks have amassed a 17-9, 5-1 record leading up to the state tournament. Notable wins of the season were a win over the 4th ranked lady Steers of Magdalena, who are 21-7, 91 and were seeded 5th in class 1-A. The lady Hawks also split with the Dulce Hawks (18-10, 5-1) 2-2, their district rival, who was last ranked 7th in the state in 2-A girls basketball.

“In general, the team is much better—I am proud of them—we hit a snag after winter break–we came back,” said Natseway “We have a lot of potential and we can go a long way”.

This week Natseway is preparing for Questa by “cleaning up” plays, minimizing turnovers and mentally preparing. “We have nothing to be scared about,” said Natseway.

The Lady Hawks, in their 4th meeting, lost to the Dulce Hawks in the district 1 2-A basketball championship game last Friday in a sold-out crowd at “The Nest.”

The Lady Hawks took the lead early 35-22 with Gianna Carillo, a junior leading the Hawk onslaught with 17 points and 15 of those points coming from treys. “She lit it up,” said Natseway of her first half performance. The Hawks lost the momentum in the second half and succumbed to Dulce defense with a final score of that game was 59-49.

Carillo was named district Player of the Year for district 1 2-A. “She (Carillo) has worked really hard—she is a leader and wants to be in the game,” said Natseway of Carrillo.