By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
For a high schooler, the general happiness of the Christmas break can be greatly enhanced by certain intangibles.
Say, not having to do a book report for instance. Or, for basketball players, winning a tournament championship can be a great send-off into a two-week stretch without games.
That was the case for Rio Rancho and Eldorado this year as both girls squads kept their name at the forefront of ultra-competitive Class 5A.
"I don't think we're the favorite. There's a lot of good 5A teams. I know how good Eldorado is, I know the kind of team Lori (Stephenson) has down at Cibola," said Rio Rancho coach Bob McIntyre after his team earned a 61-52 victory over La Cueva in the championship of the Rams' own tournament on Saturday (Dec. 14).
"I know Las Cruces has an outstanding team. I think Mayfield has a great team – I like Clovis. I didn't even mention Sandia and that whole picture," McIntyre added. "I'm here to tell you, there are about 10 really good teams – and I think we're one of them."
Rio Rancho (9-0) had knocked off Clovis in the semifinals while defending 5A state champion La Cueva had edged another usual heavyweight, Mayfield, in the other half of the bracket.
In the championship game, the Rams got 24 points from Megan Muniz and 20 more from Tracy Fosterling to lead the Bears from nearly wire-to-wire.
Although Muniz, a senior who has signed to play at Air Force, is generally a shoo-in for MVP status in any tourney her team wins, this time it was Fosterling that got the nod.
La Cueva coach Greg Berger had no argument with that as Fosterling's defense was the most disruptive element in Rio Rancho's full-court press at the beginning of the game.
Fosterling grabbed four steals and deflections of her hands led to two other La Cueva turnovers as the Rio Rancho press wrought havoc on the Bears' offensive rhythm in the first quarter.
"We had talked about not baiting her with our pass making. She has such good elevation; she jumps so well," Berger said. "But we didn't do a very good job of keeping the ball out of her hands. Then, when she did get it, she's going down and scoring layups.
"She had a career game, hitting threes, layups, free throws, everything tonight," he added.
The first basket of the game was scored by Fosterling after she picked off a La Cueva pass. In a 10-3 run to open the game, the Rams' senior scored six points.
The scoring spurt by Rio Rancho reminded Fosterling of an earlier victory by the Rams over the Bears this season.
"It was the same type of game. We came out and were intense with our trapping and we did good – just like we did in the last game," Fosterling said. "We forced turnovers the whole game. Defense is my favorite. I like it much better than offense, because I think I'm better at it."
At the Joe Armijo Classic, hosted by Albuquerque Academy, Eldorado got itself a tournament championship heading into the holiday break – and a little revenge for a loss the Eagles experience in another tourney only a week before.
In the APS Invitational, Eldorado fell to Cibola 54-51 on December 4th in the semifinals.
But the Eagles knocked off Cibola a week later in the semifinals of the Armijo Classic 45-40. Eldorado, which also defeated tough Class 4A power St. Pius 44-35 in the quarterfinals, easily won the championship with a 67-37 rout over Los Alamos in the finals.
"They (St. Pius and Cibola) are two of the tougher teams in the state. Last year, I felt like we had some really difficult times against good teams, making plays down the stretch," Eldorado coach Mike Huston said. "This time, against both of those teams, we had every chance to lose those games, but we certainly did some things to win the games instead."
In other tournament action, the boys Joe Armijo Classic was also staged at Academy and it was Rio Rancho that won that invitational with an 85-76 win over Hope Christian.
Two other tournaments staged in the same weekend were snagged by Colorado teams.
In Santa Fe, Pueblo South upended hometown teams St. Michael's and Santa Fe High en route to a tournament championship there while, in Farmington, Montwood beat Gallup 55-40 in the title contest of the annual invitational in that city.
