ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Natalia Chavez has relived the biggest shot of her life over and over again. The Volcano Vista basketball star’s buzzer-beater, that gave her team a 52-49 overtime victory over then-defending champion Hobbs and Class 5A title, became an instant classic and even made the top ten on ESPN, coming in at number two.
“I went to go eat dinner with my parents for Mother’s Day at Texas Roadhouse and my mom was just going through Facebook and she saw that somebody saw it on SportsCenter, like on live tv and it was number two and when I saw it I was just speechless,” said Chavez.
Chavez chose to play basketball with her high school team over playing with her club team. She usually doesn’t have to choose, but COVID-19 caused a delayed school season and overlap with club ball.
Chavez made a choice that gave her much more of a spotlight than she would have received playing AAU. One-shot did it all.
“The messages keep coming in, even from the college coaches that are recruiting me,” said Chavez. “They’re just congratulating me on the win and just saying that it was an amazing shot to take even in a state championship title.” Chavez is already back on the court. She has an AAU tournament to play in Arizona this weekend.
