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San Manuel sophomore Aubrey Encinas and junior Victoria Zazueta combined for 42 points in the 22nd-ranked Lady Miners lopsided 60 – 13 win against visiting San Miguel last Tuesday night. The win extended San Manuel’s winning streak to five games.
The 13 points allowed by San Manuel matched a season-best, which it also accomplished on Jan. 9 versus Superior. It was the third time this season the Lady Miners limited an opponent to 16 points or less.
“(An) all-around great performance against San Miguel is what to expect from the Lady Miners when they’re all on the same frequency [and] playing for one another,” San Manuel head coach Rome Porras-Romero told the Miner. “(We) controlled the pace from the get-go and constantly looked for ways to get each other involved.”
Senior Araceli Curry finished with eight points and seven assists. In addition to her game-high 27 points, Encinas added 13 rebounds. Zazueta, who scored 15 points, finished with nine rebounds, 11 assists and four steals. Natalye Pinedo, a sophomore, had a team-high seven steals.
The Lady Miners winning streak was snapped in their next game, a 26 – 24 loss at
Tombstone. No. 3 San Carlos defeated San Manuel last Friday night, 98 – 15.
Despite consecutive losses for the first time in three weeks, San Manuel can benefit from some humble pie.
“We played two very aggressive teams back-to-back, and I think the losses taught us that we can’t take anything for granted,” Porras-Romero said. “We realize that there are no easy wins this late in the season and we are dedicated to getting back to our winning ways.”
Up next: Jan. 23 at Ray, Jan. 24 vs. Santa Rita and Jan. 28 at Globe. All games are scheduled to tipoff at 5:30 p.m.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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