Tigers play, win with purpose

Sports writer

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link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Tiger senior point guard Marily Varela maneuvers around a Cimarron defender on her way to the basket during the Tigers' 1A state championship game Friday morning at The Pit in Albuquerque.

ALBUQUERQUE — In the four years the New Mexico Activities Association sponsored Class B, Elida made mince meat out of the rest of the field in winning the state title each year and not losing a game to anyone in their class in that time.

Now in Class 1A, the Lady Tigers had perhaps their most dominant performance in a final on Friday, overwhelming Cimarron 75-26 at The Pit.

Senior guard Marily Varela scored 21 points as the Lady Tigers (22-6) ran off the game’s first 16 points behind a suffocating pressure defense that often didn’t let Cimarron even get to the front court.

Elida coach Jaden Isler, who took over the team after his father was killed in a January automobile accident, said the team was playing with something to prove.

“I think he’d be unbelievably proud (of the team’s performance),” Jaden Isler said of his father, J.D. Isler. “The performance these girls put on in the finals was unbelievable.”

Cimarron (24-5), seeded second behind the Lady Tigers, was limited to nine field goals and committed 25 turnovers, 18 of them in a first half which ended with the score 48-12 and led to a running clock over the final two quarters.

“It means a lot,” said Varela, one of only three seniors on the roster, said of the title. “We weren’t just playing for us; we were playing for (the elder Isler).”

Elida’s run-and-gun, pressure style led to 48 first-half shots — 11 more than the Lady Rams had all game.

“They came to play,” Cimarron coach Patricia LeDoux said of the Lady Tigers. “They had a purpose, playing for a coach they loved dearly.”

Senior forward Taylor Epps had a double-double by halftime and finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Kenzee Criswell added a pair of 3-pointers and 10 points.

“I have to give credit to the girls,” Isler said. “They don’t do it in just one sport — they’ve also got five straight (state) titles in volleyball.”

Sophomore Jessica Pittman provided most of the offense for the Lady Rams, finishing with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds.