Varela, Blakey net POY awards

link File photo: Joshua Lucero Elida senior Marily Varela was chosen Class 1A girls player of the year by NMPreps.com. Varela was part of four state basketball championship teams at Elida.

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With three state trophies, one state runnerup and two other semifinalists, it was clear that Curry and Roosevelt county basketball teams were noticed during the state basketball championships.

They were certainly noticed on NMPreps.com, as well, with six players picked for a player of the year award by the site, a Rivals.com partner operated by Kyle Henderson of Albuquerque.

Players of the year, locally, were Danni Williams of Clovis in 6A Girls South, Kambrey Blakey of Portales for 4A Girls, Bronte Staugaard of Portales for 4A Boys South, Brianna Reyna for 3A Girls, Caley Barnard of Melrose for 2A Girls and Marily Varela of Elida for 1A Girls.

The site awarded 20 players across the state. There were eight girls award winners — a North and South winner in Classes 5A and 6A, and one each in Classes 1A-4A. A dozen boys players were honored, with co-player honors in Class 6A North and South, North and South winners in Classes 3A-5A and one each in Classes 1A and 2A.

For Williams, it was her third time taking the award. Clovis’ all-time leading scorer, also the state’s only three-time winner of the Gatorade girls player of the year award, said it’s always nice to be recognized. She split honors with Alexa Romano, a friend who plays at La Cueva and took the North honors.

“It’s pretty cool. It’s great for her, and I’m happy for her to get it. It’s a little different because we’re sharing it. I’d want to see which one of us would get it overall, but there are other awards out there.”

Blakey, the leading scorer in Portales’ 57-52 title game loss to Hope Christian, has won the award twice in a row. The Portales high junior said she felt both honored and blessed to take home the award.

“It’s a little different,” Blakey said. “Everything felt so good (the first time) because we won state, but it still feels good.”

Staugaard was the leading scorer for a Portales team that reached the Class 4A semifinals with a 12-game winning streak before bowing out to eventual champion Hope Christian. Staugaard, who could not be reached for contact, shared 4A honors with North selection Jordan Leake of Hope Christian.

The smaller-school winners — Reyna, Barnard and Varela — all had blue trophies attached to their resume.

For Reyna, the award was the culmination of a year spent erasing the sour taste of 2014’s Class 2A runnerup finish. Reyna, whose game-tying 3-point attempt rimmed out in 2014, came close to a triple-double in this year’s 3A title game win over Clayton.

“I pushed myself as hard as I could, just to make sure it wouldn’t happen again,” said Reyna, a junior for the Wolverines. “That was probably the worst feeling I’d ever had. Everything I did was to make a good outcome.”

Barnard, who is leaning towards Lubbock Christian University next season, called the award a blessing she could never replace. She leaves Melrose with two state basketball championships, as she was a freshman on the 2012 Class 1A champion Melrose squad.

“There were some games where people were keying on me quite a bit, but overall my team did an amazing job,” Barnard said. “Everybody played their part. It wasn’t just one person. You can’t win a championship with one person, you can’t win a game with one person. It takes all five; I’m so grateful for my teammates.”

Varela may have the most coveted honor of them all — 4-for-4 at The Pit. Elida’s 75-26 win over Cimarron was the fifth consecutive title in the small-school classification, and the fourth for Varela.

Varela credited both of her coaches — Jaden Isler and J.D. Isler, who died in a January car accident.

“(Jaden) knew how it felt to be a point guard and handle situations when they go wrong; he really knew what would be going on on the court,” Varela said. “(J.D.) really wanted me to be successful on and off the court. He showed me things I didn’t know before and tried to improve my skills. He would give me poisitive advice, try to make me better.”

Varela said this season was different to begin with because she was a senior, but other factors mattered less after the team dedicated its season to J.D. Isler.

“We had that one goal,” Varela said. “It was different because of the accident with J.D. We were playing for him, and we really wanted to make everyone in the community proud, and also make him proud from up above.”