Lady Aztecs Struggle in Home Opener Against Burges 62-38

By Samuel Guzman

The Lady Aztecs hosted Burges Mustangs, Tuesday night at El Dorado High School for a non-district game. Just coming off a 38-34 win against Mountain View last Friday, the Lady Aztecs were unable to secure a second win against the Mustangs.

The scoreboard of 62-38 told the whole story of the game; El Dorado had struggled on both ends of the floor while Burges was rolling on all cylinders. The Lady Aztecs now hold a record of 1-1 and hope to learn from Tuesday night’s game.

The first quarter began with a rough start for El Dorado as Burges went on a 16-0 run to start the game off. The Mustangs defensive pressure had forced El Dorado into multiple turnovers and rushed shots.

“Everything was in a rush tonight and it made us play in a way that we don’t play and it hurt us,” Coach Burns said. “Getting down 16-0 against a team like this, (Burges) it’s basically like being down 50-0.”

Aztecs guard, Kayley Diaz had finally broken the scoring drought with 2:49 left in the first quarter with a three-point shot from the corner. Senior Ebonie Ballesteros and junior Rebecca Davila also managed to score in the first quarter with a combined three points to get out with a 25-6 deficit.

Burges continued to dominate the first half, putting up another 12 points in the second quarter. The Mustangs defense limited El Dorado in scoring, resulting in only nine points before going into halftime with a score of 37-15.

The third quarter started off with a well-executed screen freeing up space for the junior guard Rebecca Davila to knock down a three-point shot. The Lady Aztecs managed to put up 10 points in the quarter from: Ballesteros who scored three points; junior Victoria Aldaco who scored two points; and sophomore Akili Alexander who scored two points.

The fourth quarter was another silent quarter for the Lady Aztecs, but Ballesteros showed flashes of the threat she can be on both sides of the ball. Ballesteros hauled in rebounds and became aggressive inside the paint drawing multiple fouls to get her to the free-throw line. She had just finished her volleyball season and is now transitioning into playing basketball.

“I have to get into basketball shape again, and I know I have a lot of work to do,” Ballesteros said. “My vertical has improved since last season, so I am really happy about that, but I just have to keep getting up there and getting those boards.”

The game ended with a score of 62-38 as Burges improves to 2-0, giving the Lady Aztecs their first loss of the season. Burges’ leading scorer was senior guard Natalie Sanchez with 23 points, and El Dorado’s leading scorer was Kayley Diaz with 11 points. The Lady Aztecs hope to learn from this loss and continue to battle the rest of the season.

“I expect us to win, play better, and just be better fundamentally,” Burns said.

The Lady Aztecs will be facing the Chapin Huskies next Tuesday, at 7:30 p.m. at Chapin High School.