Pojoaque girls top SFIS 45-36By James Barron jbarron@sfnewmexican.com
Santa Fe New Mexican
Dec 21, 2025
Braves win second straight boys title, beat Gallup 63-45
JACONA — Monique Arrietta didn’t need an anesthetic.
When Pojoaque Valley’s junior guard fell to the floor during Friday night’s 50-35 win over Peñasco in the semifinals of Pojoaque Valley’s Ben Luján Tournament, her chin took the brunt of the force and opened a gash that required nine stitches.
And she declined her doctor’s offer for the numbing agent.
“I wish they didn’t hurt me,” Arrietta said. “It happens.”
Arrietta showed up for Saturday’s tournament championship game against Santa Fe Indian School with a bandage on her chin, but her toughness was overshadowed by the endurance of her Elkettes.
In a rematch of last week’s Al Armendariz Tournament final at Capital, Pojoaque ran the Lady Braves into the ground with relentless pressure. It showed in the second half as SFIS went just 5-for-24 from the field and missed 15 of its last 17 shots in a 45-36 Elkettes win in Ben Luján Gymnasium.
It was a good news/bad news for SFIS, as the boys team throttled Gallup
63-45 to win its second straight tournament championship.
Arrietta said that was a credit to head coach Bobby Romero and assistant Ben Martinez’s conditioning drills called “four quarters” in which the girls are constantly running for the first 30 to 45 minutes of Monday practices.
“We condition, and we take it very seriously,” Arrietta said. “It shows in these big games; when they’re super close, it keeps our legs [strong].”
For the first three quarters, it appeared the Lady Braves would again sneak past Pojoaque (8-3) as they answered every challenge.
But the fourth quarter was a different story.
When SFIS senior wing Kaydence Riley hit a baseline jumper with 7 minutes, 53 seconds left for a 34-28 lead, it was the Lady Braves’ last points for the next 7:25.
The Elkettes proceeded to score the next 15 points, but the first eight were the crucial ones. Arrietta scored on a transition basket off a steal, then Gerrianna Romero, who had been quiet for most of the game, splashed consecutive 3-pointers to give the Elkettes their first lead at 36-34 with 5:38 to go.
While SFIS (9-2) went cold, Pojoaque finally heated up in the final 8 minutes. After hitting just seven of its first 30 shots, the team went 6-for-9 down the stretch. Romero said it was just a matter of time before the Elkettes’ game plan wore the Lady Braves down.
“We had a plan,” Romero said. “Our game plan was to basically make them run. They might be the ‘Running Braves,’ but we outran the ‘Running Braves.’ Sorry. That’s exactly what we did.”
On the boys side, SFIS (9-1) continued its relentless style of play that overcame a cold shooting night from the perimeter by the Callado brothers. Neither junior Dontrey Callado nor sophomore Taivian Callado hit a 3-pointer, but that was OK against the Bengals (6-3).
Kale Loretto and Christopher Peña each hit a pair of thress, and even Xavier Candelaria knocked one down from the right corner that gave the Braves a 42-34 lead in the third quarter. That was the impetus of a 13-1 run that pushed the lead to 51-34 when Dontrey Callado hit an 18-footer with 4 seconds left in the third.
SFIS head coach Byron Trujillo said that might be the first time the Braves won without a Callado hitting a 3, and that includes former Braves player Kenyon Callado, who graduated in the spring.
“I tell my boys every day that everybody on our team is a basketball player,” Trujillo said. “From the first guy to the last guy, everybody on our team is here for a reason. And I tell them every time you catch the ball, you always got to be a [scoring] threat.”
While Dontrey Callado manufactured 23 points the old-fashioned way (without a 3) on his way to the tournament MVP honors, Loretto had nine points while Peña and Antonio Pecos added eight.
CONSOLATION GAMES Boys
In the third place game, Pojoaque Valley held Capital to just 12 second-half points to pull away in a 58-40 win. Joziah Salazar, who was named to the all-tournament team, had a team high 15 points for the Elks (3-7), and Andres Trevizo added 11. Capital (3-5) had Christian Bencomo and Marcos Martinez each score 11.
Escalante (4-2) took fifth place by holding Cuba to just seven points in the fourth quarter to expand a 35-32 lead. RJ Atencio led the Lobos with 20 points. Dylan Sandoval scored 12 for the Rams (3-4). Escalante won 46-39.
Peñasco (4-5) scored its first win of the tournament in the seventh place game, outscoring Moriarty 25-5 in the first quarter and rolled to a 61-28 win. Kaileb Atencio scored 19 of his game-high 38 points in the first quarter to lead the Panthers, and Angelo Zamora added 11. The Pintos (2-8) were led by Mario Romero’s eight.
Girls
In the third place game, Tohatchi (7-3) overcame a 30-19 halftime deficit by outscoring Peñasco 36-17 in the second half to win, 53-47. Jhett Dale had 26 points for the Cougars, while Rohelle Lopez scored 31 to lead the Panthers (5-4).
Crownpoint scored 34 points in the first half and rolled to a 70-42 win over McCurdy to take fifth place. Courtney Craig led the Eagles (7-3) with 30 points, while Kaylee Martinez had 11 for the Bobcats (5-2).
Capital scored its first win of the season with a 44-36 win over Moriarty (2-8), overcoming an 11-7 deficit after a quarter.
Elsa Gomez scored 15 points and Evelyn Vigil added 14 for the Jaguars (1-8), while all-tournament selection Jazlyn Turner had 18 rebounds.