Boys prep basketball: Cleveland wins 5A semi, Magdalena takes 1A title
May 6—CLASS 5A
NO. 1 CLEVELAND 58, NO. 4 ATRISCO HERITAGE 54: At Cleveland on Friday, the Storm (13-1) avenged its only loss of the season and advanced to the Class 5A boys state championship game with a tight and exciting victory over its District 1-5A rival, the Jaguars (9-3).
Senior guard Nate Hasberry had a team-best 17 points for Cleveland, which faces Las Cruces High at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 5A final at the Pit. The Bulldawgs won at Roswell 68-64 in Thursday night's other semifinal.
Javier Mendoza of Atrisco Heritage had a spectacular showing, scoring 20 first-half points and 26 overall for the Jaguars.
— James Yodice
CLASS 1A
If you happen to know Joren Mirabal personally, here's some advice:
Call him on Friday. Or anytime this weekend.
Call him multiple times. He won't mind.
"As soon as we lost that game last year, I took a picture of the red trophy and put it on my screen saver on my phone," Mirabal said. "I can't tell you how excited I am to go into that locker room and change that screen saver."
About 14 months after Magdalena came into the Pit as an undefeated team and lost in the state finals to Pecos, the Steers, who dropped down a classification since they were last seen up here, returned to Albuquerque on Thursday afternoon.
Mirabal, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, had a team-best 22 points — all in the first three quarters — as the top-seeded Steers won the Class 1A state championship, 56-43 over No. 2 Melrose in a showdown of unbeateans.
For Magdalena (15-0), it is the school's first blue trophy since 2015.
And the photo of the blue trophy was soon to be installed as the new screen saver in Mirabal's phone.
"I've been waiting 14 months to do it," he said. "I hated getting on my phone. Every time I opened it, I saw that red trophy."
The Steers dominated the middle two quarters Thursday, which was the difference. Magdalena outscored Melrose (13-1) 34-16 in the second and third quarters.
It was an 8-0 run to close the first half, after the game was tied 20-20, that turned things in the Steers' favor. Mirabal nailed two 3s and a mid-range jumper for a 28-20 lead going up the ramp.
"That was a big moment," admitted Melrose coach Kevin Lackey, whose Buffaloes were searching for a fourth consecutive state title. "It was a tough way to end the first half."
His senior post, Tate Sorgen, dominated in the first quarter, scoring all 11 points for Melrose. He finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, but was held to five combined points in those pivotal middle two quarters.
"The biggest thing was," Lackey said, "we had a hard time handling the pressure in those two quarters, where we couldn't get into the half-court offense and get him the ball as much. It was more us not handling our keys."
In the third quarter, a 3 from Isaac Lopez and a three-point play by Mirabal extended the Steers to a 34-22 lead. Late in the quarter, Joshua Baca's 3-pointer had Magdalena in command, leading 45-25.
Melrose had a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter and pulled within 10 at 49-39 with 2:46 remaining, but got no closer.
"It's just hard," said Sorgen, fighting back tears under his mask. "As a senior, I really thought that we could come in here and do it. Mag proved to be the better team today. All credit to them. They're an amazing team."
And the Steers will return most everyone from this group next season.
"A feeling we'll remember forever," said Magdalena coach Jory Mirabal, who added, "The thing I'm most proud of this group, they played within themselves. Everyone had a role and they lived within that role and it magnified everyone else's role on the team."
Coach Mirabal even did something that probably would seem radical prior to tipoff, ashe contemplated the contrast in styles between his team's up-tempo preference and Melrose's bruising inside game led by Sorgen.
"Right before we took the floor," he said, "I told these guys, 'All that stuff we worked on in practice yesterday, throw all that in the trash. We're gonna be who we're gonna be. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But we're gonna go out there and be us and try to be the best version of who we are.' "
Kael Stephens added 13 points and six rebounds for Magdalena.
NO. 1 MAGDALENA 56, NO. 2 MELROSE 43
MELROSE (13-1): Michael Cardonita 0-3 0-0- 0, Logan DeVaney 0-1 0-0 0, Devon Bailey 3-8 3-4 9, Trace Jackson 1-9 0-1 2, Tate Sorgen 10-18 6-10 26, Brandon Garcia 2-7 0-0 6, Troy May 0-0 0-0 0, Kayden Cones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 9-15 43.
MAGDALENA (15-0): Joren Mirabal 8-14 3-3 22, Isaac Lopez 2-6 0-0 5, D'Shaun Vinyard 0-5 2-2 2, Joshua Baca 2-9 3-4 8, Mason Greenwood 1-6 1-2 3, Kael Stephens 5-9 2-3 13, Joseph Zamora 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 19-52 12-16 56.
Melrose 11 9 7 16 — 43
Magdalena 11 17 17 11 — 56
3-point goals: Mel 2-15 (Garcia 2-5, Jackson 0-7, Cardonita 0-2, Sorgen 0-1); Mag 6-19 (Mirabal 3-5, Lopez 1-3, Stephens 1-3, Baca 1-5, Vinyard 0-2, Zamora 0-1). Field-goal percentages: Mel 34.8%; Msg 36.5$. Rebounds: Mel 36 (Sorgen 14); Mag 34 (Vinyard 8). Assists: Mel 9 (DeVaney 5); Mag 12 (Baca 7). Turnovers: Mel 19; Mag 10. Total fouls: Mel 13; Mag 15. Steals: Mel 4 (Sorgen 2); Mag 11 (Baca 4). Blocked shots: Mel 6 (Sorgen 3); Mag 1 (Stephens).
— James Yodice
— James Yodice
Class 5A BOYS (with bracket)
Class 4A BOYS (with bracket)
Class 3A BOYS bracket
Class 2A BOYS bracket
Class 1A BOYS bracket
