Like night turning to day, it seems the Nogales High Lady Apaches hoopsters have finally united as a cohesive unit—or at least that appeared to be the case Thursday when they tunneled out of their 0-10 losing streak, which included five preseason tournament games.

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Led by 6-foot senior center Olivia Valencia’s game-high 22 points, the Lady Apaches took advantage of a newfound methodical ball-control offense to chip away at a Catalina Foothills squad that was 6-4, including preseason tourney play.

The host Apaches came away with a 52-43 victory—and a little bit of hope heading into the new year.

“I think they got tired of making mistakes,” said Nogales skipper Doug Odum. “I told them that it takes a lot of energy to make those bad passes. All we want is the easy open passes … and to take the easy shots. We don’t want to force all these things. They were working too hard.”

After a 12-6 run late in the second quarter, though, the Lady Falcons’ hard work started to pay off in the form of a 27-26 lead early in the third frame.

That was as close as they would come, though, against a Nogales squad that jumped out to a 10-point lead two minutes into the fourth quarter.

It was all Nogales after that.

“I think we got the right mix. They controlled themselves, and we controlled the whole thing,” Odum said. “That’s gotta be our game. We’re not fast enough to do anything else.

“I think I got them to focus on doing the things that they do well. You can’t stretch what your ability is. You just have to do what you can do.”

That was not the case Dec. 8 against Douglas, though, when the Lady Apaches were leading by five with 68 seconds to go in the game.

They imploded, though, and lost the game 51-47 on fouls and sloppy play.

“We were just tired of losing,” Valencia said. “We couldn’t finish, and today we just played together. Everyone scored, I believe, and we just did really good.

“I feel really good … by helping the team,” she added. “I really care a lot about the team. I get upset sometimes. No offenses to anyone on my team, but I just care.”

Catalina Foothills coach Laura Siemons, on the other hand, was frustrated, and not having their leading scorer, Libby Stropko, just made matters worse.

“That’s a huge impact not having her,” Siemons said, “but we need to figure out how to pick it up as a team. To walk down here and take a loss like that is really tough. But (Nogales) shot a huge percentage. You’ve got to give them credit. They put the ball in hole. Unfortunately we came down the night they shoot lights out. But we didn’t box out very well on the weak side very well, either, so we have to take credit for what we didn’t do.”

Erin Peterson and Cari Natvig led the Lady Falcons’ scoring with nine each, while Rubi Carillo picked up 13 for Nogales.

“I think the big difference tonight is that we didn’t rely on Olivia,” Odum said. “She got her points. She got her rebounds. But we didn’t force it into her, and we weren’t looking for her every time. We had other people pick up the slack and move the ball and work the game.”

That responsibility fell mainly on the shoulders of point guards Monica Islava and Suzette Cota, who, like a good quarterback, controlled the game from the top of key.

“Her confidence level is just on the rise,” Odum said. “She was unsure of herself (at first), but she’s just getting better and better,” Odum said of Cota, “and in this game it showed that she’s smart enough to control a game now. She wasn’t sure of it before. I think she’s sure of it now.”

The Lady Apaches will now hit the practice gym and continue to try and perfect their newfound style for the Flowing Wells Tournament, which is scheduled for Dec. 26-30. After the tourney, they visit Flowing Wells for a head-to-head match-up Jan. 5. On Jan. 7 they are slated to host Rincon.

“Hopefully we can continue this,” Valencia said. “We can’t let it fall.”