ALBUQUERQUE — With the season on the line in the final minute of one of the most thrilling, intense and improbable come-from-behind victories of the 2010 Girls State Basketball Championships, there was no time for jokes.
Unless you’re Lakeshia Padilla.
With around 8,000 screaming fans on the edge of their seats and eyes transfixed on The Pit floor, the imposing 6-foot-1 post presence of the second-seeded Santa Fe Indian School Lady Braves walked up to junior point guard Jenine Coriz and whispered something in her ear before a critical free throw with 58 seconds remaining in a Class AAA semifinal with No. 6 Lovington.
“I just told her to call 1-800-Everytime,” Padilla said. “Then she’ll make them every time.”
Coriz made the free throw and the Lady Braves went on to come from a 15-point deficit to defeat Lovington in the state 3AAA semi-final game. Last night SFIS defeated West Las Vegas in OT to win the 3AAA state championship.