Girls prep basketball: 5A favorites roll; Highland nips St. Pius in 4A (with updated brackets)
Mar. 5—It was a day and night largely dominated by favorites in the first round of the girls high school basketball state tournament on Friday.
There were only two moderate upsets ahead of Tuesday's quarterfinals, and of the 40 games played Friday night, only two were decided by three or fewer points.
Class 5A
The top eight seeds rolled into the quarters, led by 26-0 Volcano Vista which routed Santa Fe 72-28. The Hawks meet No. 8 Centennial in the next round after those Hawks eliminated Mayfield 39-34.
The other quarterfinals on Tuesday are Las Cruces-Farmington, Organ Mountain-La Cueva and Carlsbad-Hobbs.
NO. 1 VOLCANO VISTA 72, NO. 16 SANTA FE 28: The Hawks (26-0) opened defense of their 2021 state championship, routing the Demonettes (18-10).
Volcano Vista has now won 39 straight games, and has not lost since falling to Hobbs in the 2020 state state final.
"Coach V (Lisa Villareal) told us at the beginning of the season that there is a target on our backs," said Hawks senior guard Natalia Chavez, who finished with 16 points. "Nobody is going to let you beat them by a lot. Knowing that, we have to come into every game strong."
Taejhuan Hill scored a game-high 21 points for Volcano Vista, and Jaelyn Bates added 15 before leaving the game in the third quarter with leg cramps.
The vaunted Volcano Vista press forced Santa Fe into 20 first-half turnovers, but those extra possessions didn't always yield the extra points.
After scoring the game's first 11 points, the Hawks' lead was cut to 13-10 after seven straight Santa Fe points.
Kennedy Brown hit two free throws, Bates nailed a 3, and Mari Manzanares cashed in a deuce as the lead quickly swelled back to 10.
Volcano Vista's lead stood at 26-17 with three minutes left in the first half, but the quick-strike offense helped push the lead to 18 at halftime.
Bates hit a deep 3 to spur the late first-half run, and Hill's offensive rebounding yielded four more points.
Chavez had a pair of 3s in the third quarter, and the Volcano Vista defense was at its smothering best blanking the Demonettes over that eight-minute stretch to extend the margin to 56-21.
"We haven't played for a while so we started a little over-aggressive and fouling early," Villareal said. "It wasn't our plan, but we knew the press would kick in ... the girls were relentless and we didn't shoot well in the first half, but it all came together."
— Patrick Newell
VOLCANO VISTA 72, SANTA FE 28
Santa Fe (18-10): Olivia Montoya 4, Issabella Lovato 3, Alexis Espinoza 4, Laisha Diaz 2, Michelle Malczewski 3, Kabreya Garcia 9, Marisol Serna 2, Zuriel Vigil 2. Totals: 9 FG, 8-12 FT.
Volcano Vista (26-0): Jaelyn Bates 15, Kennedy Brown 2, Mari Manzanares 4, Jade Lovato 2, Savannah McGuire 5, Mila Espinoza 2, Natalia Chavez 16, Taejhuan Hill 21, Angela Aranda 5. Totals: 27 FG, 11-14 FT.
Santa Fe 10 9 0 9—28
Volcano Vista 20 19 17 16—72
3-point goals: VV 7 (Bates 3, Chavez 2, Hill, McGuire); SF 2 (Lovato, Malczewski). Team fouls: VV 12, SF 11. Fouled out: none.
NO. 3 LA CUEVA 41, NO. 14 SANDIA 32: The Bears' fourth victory over the Matadors this season was the closest and most tense of the four, but La Cueva (20-6) kept Sandia (17-11) at bay down the stretch to advance to play Organ Mountain Tuesday's quarterfinals. The Bears lost to the Knights back in December in Las Cruces.
"We talked about it all week, it's hard when you're the team that wins those games," La Cueva coach Marisa Cogan said of her team's rivalry with Sandia. "Because what do you change? It's hard to be at a good team three times, much less four times. They figured out the way we play, so our girls made some adjustments."
It was slow going in the first half; a very late 3-pointer by La Cueva's Alexis Ayers, the Bears' only field goal of the second quarter, put them in front 13-10 at halftime.
La Cueva had more scoring balance in the third quarter.
"They were playing really aggressive man (defense) in the first half, and we hadn't seen that a lot this season," Cogan saide. "And so at halftime, we said we have to go from the inside out. We have to start attacking, driving to the basket. We made that adjustment, and we got to the free throw line, got some good looks, and that helped us get momentum."
For Sandia), nine of its 11 losses this season came to the top three seeds at state: Volcano Vista, Farmington and La Cueva. The Matadors missed the front end of three one-and-one situations from the line in the fourth quarter, hurting their chances for an upset.
Mariah Maes, the Matadors' veteran senior guard, hit back-to-back baskets to keep Sandia close, trailing 29-25 with 6 1/2 minutes still to go. And Sandia was still down only four with four minutes to go.
Nina Romero and Eva Love both delivered key buckets to provide La Cueva enough of a cushion in the final moments. Love led the Bears with nine points.
Freshman Sydney Benally had 11 points to pace Sandia.
— James Yodice
LA CUEVA 41, SANDIA 32
Sandia (17-11): Audri Wright 8, Hope Giddings 7, Mariah Maes 5, Sydney Benally 11, Paige Garduño 1. Totals 12 4-10 32.
La Cueva (20-6): Rylie Ottmann 5, Eva Love 9, Nina Romero 3, Toni Lucero 3, Olivia Haddock 5, Alexis Ayers 5, Teona Savic 5, Karleigh Gutierrez 6. Totals 13 11-20 41.
Sandia 4 6 11 11 — 32
La Cueva 9 4 14 14 — 41
3-point goals: S 4 (Wright 2, Giddings, Benally); LC 4 (Love, Lucero, Haddock, Ayers). Total fouls: S 16; LC 15.
OTHER GAMES: Carlsbad edged Cleveland 36-34, as the seventh-seeded Cavgirls move on to face rival Hobbs on Tuesday. The second-seeded Eagles downed Piedra Vista 64-52. Hobbs went 3-0 against Carlsbad in the regular season.
The fourth-seeded Scorpions beat district rival Eldorado 53-35, and on Tuesday will attempt to defeat Las Cruces for the second time this season. The Bulldawgs, seeded fifth, advanced with a 50-41 victory over Clovis; Las Cruces was beaten 64-46 by Farmington nearly three months ago in the championship game of the Joe Armijo Classic at Albuquerque Academy.
Class 4A
Except for Highland's close win over district rival St. Pius, the 4A bracket produced mostly blowouts Friday.
No. 1 Kirtland Central, No. 2 Gallup and No. 3 Bernalillo all won by at least 31 points. The Broncos play Valencia in the next round, the Bengals will play host to Moriarty, and the Spartans will welcome Taos on Tuesday. The Hornets visit No. 5 Portales.
NO. 5 HIGHLAND 48, NO. 12 ST. PIUS 45: The Hornets (21-5) survived an extended fourth-quarter absence from star point guard Deniece Ryan and held on to beat the Sartans (11-13) in the first round.
Ryan, who paced the Hornets with 16 points, went down with cramps in her right leg late in the third quarter and had to be helped off the court. Prior to her exit, Ryan had propelled Highland to as much as an eight-point lead in the period thanks to her speed in the open court — whether it was getting to the basket herself or creating opportunities for teammates.
While Highland sputtered with Ryan off the court, it never allowed St. Pius, its district rival, to take control. When the floor general checked back in at the 4:00 mark of the fourth quarter, the Hornets still led 37-35.
"We've got other kids who can play, they just depend on her," said Highland coach Lonnie Neal. "She's like the crutch of our team. Some kids had to grow up tonight.
"We always preach it: If somebody goes down, it's the next person up and we can continue to go on."
It was a tension-filled final few minutes, especially when St. Pius standout Alyssa Maes buried a deep 3 — the only trifecta of the game for either team — to bring the Sartans to within 42-41 with 40.9 seconds remaining.
From there, the Hornets converted all six of their attempts at the foul line and caused a critical turnover when St. Pius tried to force-feed Maes the ball down 46-43 with five seconds left in the game. Maes had a game-high 20 for the Sartans, but she wouldn't get a chance to be a hero in the waning seconds.
"We battled," Neal said. "At the end of the day, the best team is always gonna make plays. We made enough plays to win tonight."
— Tristen Critchfield
HIGHLAND 48, ST. PIUS 45
St. Pius (11-13): Bella Candelaria 2, Alyssa Maes 20, Marisol Valdez 9, Catalina Anaya 2, Desirey Ortiz 12. Totals: 14 FG 16-28 FT.
Highland (21-5): Deniece Ryan 16, Ava Cordova 4, Harmony Jenkins 2, Vania Limas 8, Brianna Stockton 7, Rebekah Carpenter 1, Ebony Conner 10. Totals: 14 FG, 20-33 FT.
St. Pius 7 9 10 19—45
Highland 8 10 14 16—48
3-point goals: S 1 (Maes); H 0. Total fouls: S 25, H 23. Fouled out: H, Zoriah Jackson.
NO. 3 BERNALILLO 62, NO. 14 SILVER 26: Senior guard Juliana Aragon scored 24 points, while two teammates also reached double figures as the Spartans (26-1) advanced.
Leah Valdez added 19 — including five 3-pointers, four in the first half — and Gabby O'Hara had 15 for the Spartans, who will play host to sixth-seeded Taos (21-6) on Tuesday.
Jordan McCain had nine points to lead the Colts (12-14), all coming in the second half.
And while Aragon, the state's leading scorer, is the unquestioned Bernalillo star and the one player every opponent looks to shut down, her teammates, behind five Valdez points, built an 11-5 lead before she got on the board with a fast break layup with 2:50 left in the first quarter. That play, however, ignited a 9-0 run to close the first quarter.
The Bernalillo lead was never in single digits again.
Getting production from other players, particularly on outside shots, spread the floor to give Aragon room to consistently drive it inside for easy points.
"They've been making my job easier since the very beginning," she said. "They hit big shots for us and that's been the key to everything, every single game we've played. We're lucky to have them."
Seeing the Spartans play like that brought a smile to coach Raymond Aragon's face.
"Gabby and Leah stepped up," he said. "That's what Leah was doing at the beginning of the year, knocking down those 3s. Her doing that, then we can get Jules in the lane and even Gabby, then we're hard to beat."
In addition to her points, Aragon handed out five assists as she consistently worked to get her teammates in good scoring positions.
"We're a hard-working team, like I tell them every day," she said. "We just have to keep our heads and just try to go get better each and every day. I try to get my teammates involved and I just want to make them better."
And while Aragon is one of the state's top point guards, she remains without any major scholarship offers, which continues to fuel her drive.
"I think all of us play with a chip on our shoulder," she said. "A lot of people doubt us, think we're going to lose in the first round or whatever it is. Every time we step on the court, that's what we try and think of playing with that chip on our shoulder."
— Glen Rosales
BERNALILLO 62, SILVER 26
Silver (10-12): Laila Lopez 2, Xolymer Franco 2, Allzae Torres 2, Maleah Diaz 5, Alexis Flores 6, Jordan McCain 9. Totals: 10 FG, 2-5 FT.
Bernalillo (26-1): Gabby O'Hara 15, Leah Valdez 19, Deandra Spencer 3, Juliana Aragon 24, Kylene Chino 2. Totals: 23 FG, 8-10 FT.
Silver 5 6 7 8—26
Bernalillo 20 15 13 14—62
3-point FGs: S 2 (Diaz, McCain); B 6 (Valdez 5, Aragon). Total fouls: S 15; B 11. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.
OTHER GAMES: No. 8 Valencia overcame a slow start at home and beat No. 9 Hope Christian 59-43 to move ahead. Freshman guard Jadyn Montoya had 22 points to lead the Jaguars.
"My girls are fighters," Valencia coach Micaela Medina said. "Our defense was very suffocating and I don't know if Hope was ready for that."
The second quarter is where the Jaguars (18-11) took control, outscoring the Huskies 17-6.
Seventh-seeded Moriarty beat Goddard for the third time this season, this time 78-50 to advance to play at Gallup, which won 88-15 over Chaparral.
No. 6 Taos got past Española Valley 68-59, Portales beat Los Alamos 42-26 and Kirtland Central cruised past Miyamura 60-29.
Class 3A
No. 10 Hatch Valley was one of the two upset winners on Friday night, as the Bears took out No. 7 Dexter. All the other top seeds moved into the quarterfinals.
That included No. 3 seed Santa Fe Indian School, which advanced with a 40-24 victory over No. 14 Sandia Prep.
Only one of the eight first-round games in 4A was decided by 10 or fewer points: No. 6 Socorro, with a 42-35 victory over West Las Vegas.
In the quarterfinals, it will be No. 1 Robertson against No. 8 Thoreau, No. 4 Navajo Prep against No. 5 Crownpoint, No. 3 SFIS against Socorro, and No. 2 Tohatchi against Hatch Valley.
Class 2A
There were two overtime games in this bracket on Friday night, including Menaul, in its first postseason game in 10 years, coming from behind to beat No. 9 Tatum.
NO. 8 MENAUL 52, NO. 9 TATUM 47 (OT): Nobody at Menaul could say for sure how long it had been since the Panthers last won a playoff game, but Menaul (18-5) is advancing to the quarterfinals Tuesday at No. 1 Escalante after a close and thrilling victory over the Coyotes.
"I told this team at the beginning of the season, if it'll happen, it'll happen with them," Menaul coach Sharon Max said. "I told them, winning the district title at this school for the very first time was a step forward, but they also have to learn how to get through the first round. I don't know if a Menaul team has done that before."
It's rare that a basket off the opening tip is the game-winner in OT, but that was the case here, as sophomore guard Charli Boatman took the tip from teammate Mikayla Sierra and sprinted down for a layup just three seconds into the overtime for a 48-46 lead.
The Coyotes (13-10) only scored one point in the OT, and that was late on a free throw, while Tatum turned it over eight times in the extra four-minute session.
Sophomore Sierra led Menaul with 19 points. Boatman, who was her district's player of the year, was held to eight, but four of them came in overtime.
The OT came after a close and riveting fourth quarter that produced five ties. Valeria Marizcal had Tatum's final six points of regulation, and led all scorers with 19 points.
The Coyotes scored the game's first eight, and led in the first half by 10 points.
"We always play better in the second half; it's been a common theme of the year," Boatman said.
— James Yodice
MENAUL 52, TATUM 47 (OT)
TATUM (13-10): Avery Henard 2, Sydni Rice 3, Valeria Marizcal 19, Louann Villaseñor 13, Kylie West 6, Ciara Jimenez 4. Totals 14 19-27 47.
MENAUL (18-5): Charli Boatman 8, Mikayla Sierra 19, Sofia Ciantra 2, Mia Langeler 3, Diana Ortiz 10, Elaina Ortiz 6, Giulia Sbrenna 4. Totals 18 15-26 52.
Tatum 14 10 8 14 1 — 47
Menaul 8 9 15 14 6 — 52
3-point goals: T 0; M 1 (D.Ortiz). Total fouls: T 23; M 23. Fouled out: M, D.Ortiz, E.Ortiz.
Class 1A
The metro area's only playoff entry, the 14th-seeded co-op of Evangel Christian and Oak Grove Classical Academy, saw its season end 51-36 at No. 3 Logan. Animas-To'hajiilee, Melrose-Gateway Christian, Logan-Roy/Mosquero and Fort Sumner/House-Maxwell are Tuesday's quarterfinal matchups.
2022 NMAA Girls Basketball State Championships Class 5A
2022 NMAA Girls Basketball State Championships Class 4A
