sa国际传媒官网网页入口

This article will be updated throughout the day.

Girls Class 5A

Quarterfinals 鈥� Tuesday, the Pit

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(3) Rio Rancho 42, (6) Los Lunas 25 | | 

The Rams (26-4) never trailed and they were never once threatened as they easily handled the Tigers (24-6) in the first 5A quarterfinal of the day.

鈥淚 am just so proud of these girls, they played their butts off,鈥� Rio Rancho coach Lori Mabrey said.

The Rams鈥� defense was the story, as they held Los Lunas to 4-for-30 shooting through the first three quarters (13.3%) and just 8-for-28 (21.1%) for the game.

Rio Rancho sicced its defensive specialist, junior guard Daysia Jack, on Los Lunas鈥� top scorer, Kayla Finley, and Jack did her thing, holding Finley 鈥� who had 35 points in a win over Mayfield in the first round 鈥� to just two points at halftime, four points through three quarters and, most importantly, limited touches.

鈥淛ust staying in front of her, just being stronger than her,鈥� said Jack, who frequently draws these tasks for the Rams.

鈥淒aysia is a two-time defensive player of the year in our district, and she takes those assignments very, very seriously,鈥� Mabrey said.

Finley finished with 13, including a bunch of meaningless points in the fourth quarter when the contest was long since decided.

鈥淪he knows how to stay in your pocket,鈥� said Rams sophomore guard Madi Martinez of Jack.

Martinez had 17 points and three assists to lead the Rams. Jack added 12 points.

Rio Rancho had a 10-point lead in the first quarter and a 26-11 bulge at halftime. They led by as many as 24 points in the second half.

The Rams recorded 14 steals and turned Los Lunas over 16 times.

Rio Rancho will play a District 1-5A rival in Thursday鈥檚 semifinals, either Farmington or Volcano Vista.

鈥� James Yodice

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(4) sa国际传媒官网网页入口 High 38, (5) Sandia 22 | |

The Bulldogs, believed to be appearing inside the Pit for the first time in 33 years, went on a 19-2 wraparound run in the second half 鈥� fueled by the sensational 3-point shooting of senior guard Lailah Bouldin 鈥� and advanced to the semifinals.

鈥淚t鈥檚 fun being a Bulldog today,鈥� AHS coach Teri Morrison said.

AHS (26-3) will play Hobbs in Thursday鈥檚 semifinals.

Their position was somewhat precarious on Tuesday until late in the third quarter. Down 18-17, Bouldin lined up a 3-pointer and connected with 1:06 left in the quarter.

She stuck another one from the top of the key with 20.6 seconds left, and a 23-18 lead.

Into the fourth quarter, Bouldin, on an assist from Abby Pavia, hit another 3 from up top, and took a commanding 30-20 lead.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a moment to shine, and today was Lailah鈥檚 moment to find the bucket,鈥� Morrison said.

Bouldin led the Bulldogs with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

鈥淚t was just a big moment,鈥� Bouldin said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 hitting at first. I wasn鈥檛 shooting very well the past couple of games.鈥�

Pavia scored twice and Bouldin added a basket in the lane, and an insurmountable 36-20 lead.

鈥淲e made them uncomfortable defensively,鈥� Morrison said. 鈥淲e gapped drives and we ran off the 3.鈥�

During that 19-2 run the Matadors (25-4) went eight minutes of game time with just a single field goal as the game got away from them. Sandia, shooting just 20% (9-for-45) on the day, including a dismal 1-for-21 from the arc as the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 High man-defense dictated tempo.

鈥淔rankly,鈥� Sandia coach Lee Kettig said after his Matadors鈥� bid for a threepeat officially ended, 鈥渨e didn鈥檛 shoot that well in Round 1 (against Cleveland), either. 鈥� Credit to sa国际传媒官网网页入口 High, they played good man-defense.鈥�

The Bulldogs, before Tuesday, last played in the Pit in the 1993 state final, a notorious championship game won by Eldorado, 23-5.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 come to the Pit just to come to the Pit,鈥� Pavia said. 鈥淲e came to win.鈥�

Kaiyah Benally led Sandia with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

鈥� James Yodice

鈥�> (1) Hobbs 63, (9) La Cueva 55 | |

The Bears (18-11) had more than a fighting chance to ship the top seed out of the tournament, and La Cueva was down just three with 2陆 minutes to go. But then Matysen Zepeda buried a huge 3-pointer from the far side, and eighth-grader Xoey Ross made consecutive shots for a 10-point lead, and Hobbs (27-2) held off the Bears in an entertaining matchup.

鈥淲e knew we could play with them,鈥� said La Cueva senior guard Jordyn Dyer, who scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in her final game with the Bears. 鈥�9 seed or not.鈥�

Hobbs led virtually the entire second half, but the Bears were tight in their rear-view mirror throughout. La Cueva ultimately was undone by 22 turnovers, plus the clutch performance of Ross.

鈥淟a Cueva really gave us everything they had,鈥� Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter said. 鈥淚 thought they would hit a wall, but they didn鈥檛.鈥�

The Eagles put together a 10-0 run to lead 36-27 three minutes into the third quarter, as Kacelynn Muniez, arguably 5A鈥檚 most effective 3-point shooter, made a pair of 3s.

But La Cueva countered with eight straight, including 3s from Siena Tesinsky and Paz Romero. Another 3 by Romero tied it 38-all late in the quarter.

Ross had the final seven of the third quarter for Hobbs, including a three-poing play, and the Eagles led 43-40 going to the final quarter.

Hobbs did not relinquish the lead in the fourth quarter, but La Cueva hung around until that last flurry sparked by the Zepeda 3.

鈥淚t was a big 3 for us,鈥� Zepeda said.

Ross had 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Eagles.

鈥淪he鈥檚 done it all year,鈥� Carpenter said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 one of the best players in the state. Age is just a number.鈥�

Muniez added 17 points and hit on half of her 10 tries from the arc. For La Cueva, Tesinsky was 7-for-11 from the field and finished with 16 points. Hobbs recorded 16 steals to just one for the Bears.

Hobbs on Jan. 10 defeated sa国际传媒官网网页入口 High 56-45 in the metro final, though the Bulldogs were at full strength that day. They since lost forward Savannah Combs to a season-ending knee injury.

鈥� James Yodice

鈥�> (10) Volcano Vista 57, (2) Farmington 52 | |

The Hawks season, for most of the way, has lacked much positive traction. A late-season upset of Rio Rancho was an attention grabber, and now Volcano Vista (18-13) carries tangible underdog momentum into this next matchup with the Rams.

鈥淭he Pit is magical,鈥� said Volcano coach Lisa Villareal, who has won a handful of state titles with the school. 鈥淲e always know that at Volcano.鈥�

Jalysa Hines had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hawks, and she was one of four players in double figures in points.

It was her 3-pointer midway through the third quarter that gave Volcano Vista the lead for good at 35-32. Mia Zuniga鈥檚 three-point play moments later upped the edge for the Hawks to 40-32.

Farmington (24-5) did get as close as two points, at 51-49, with 2:22 go to on Caris Dale鈥檚 long-range jumper 鈥� her only points of the game 鈥� but Zoey Loretto scored from in close for Volcano for a 53-49 lead.

Hines hit four free throws in the final 31 seconds to seal the win for the upstart Hawks.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still in the race,鈥� Villareal said with a knowing smile, thinking back to the start of the season and the bumps along the way, when Volcano might, Villareal said, easily given up on their March dreams.

鈥淲e鈥檝e changed a lot since the beginning of the season,鈥� added Hines. 鈥淚 think we just came together better as a team, and grown together.鈥�

LaLicia Garcia added 12 points, Zuniga 11 and Loretto 10 for Volcano.

Kjani Anitielu had a team-best 21 points for the Scorpions; the Hawks鈥� defense on Dale, Villareal noted, was key, since she had been a factor in two District 1-5A victories for Farmington over Volcano Vista.

鈥淭hey did some different things we hadn鈥檛 seen,鈥� Farmington coach Tom Adair said.

鈥� James Yodice

Girls Class 4A

Quarterfinals 鈥� Tuesday, the Pit

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(4) Hope Christian 48, (5) Valencia 35 | | 

Abrianna Bishop scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the third quarter as the Huskies (25-6) pulled away from the Jaguars (22-7).

Hope used a 10-0 run to open the second half to go up 32-15. Meanwhile, Valencia didn鈥檛 score until Francesca Otero hit a 3 at the 1:57 mark of the third quarter.

鈥淲e just wanted to spend as long as we can together, so we just knew that we had to step it up and get this win,鈥� Bishop said.

Valencia kept it close with hot shooting from beyond the arc in the first half, but the Jaguars struggled with Hope鈥檚 size and length when they were unable to get open shots from the perimeter. When all was said and done, Valencia shot better from the 3-point line (40%) than it did from inside the arc (27%). The Huskies also dominated inside offensively, outscoring Valencia 32-8 in the paint.

鈥淲e knew we had an advantage with size,鈥� said Hope coach Michael Cole. 鈥淭here's not a lot of teams with much more size than us. There's a couple, but not a lot. So, I think we were able to control there.鈥�

Adalynn Day added 10 points and seven assists for Hope. Savannah Saavedra led the way for the Jaguars with 12 points, including four of her team鈥檚 eight 3-pointers.

鈥� Tristen Critchfield

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(3) sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Academy 63, (11) Shiprock 44 | |

The Chargers (25-5) survived an early injury scare and relied on their frontcourt dominance to cruise past the Chieftains (16-14).

Academy鈥檚 Lily Skarsgard had to be carried off the court after suffering an ankle sprain early in the second quarter, but that didn鈥檛 stop the Chargers from extending a three-point first quarter lead to nine at halftime. While Skarsgard returned briefly in the third quarter, her movement was still quite limited. At least on this day, her presence wasn鈥檛 needed.

Even with their point guard sidelined, the Chargers asserted themselves inside thanks to the combined efforts of Harper Dunn (18 points), Addie Spratley (17) and Kiara Brown (12). By the end of the third quarter, Academy led by 17 and Shiprock鈥檚 hopes of an upset were essentially extinguished.

鈥淲hen Lily went down with her injury, it took a little steam out of our team,鈥� said Academy coach Joshua Skarsgard. 鈥淏ut like all year, we've been resilient, so I told them I was proud of their resilience. To see your captain get hurt and still keep playing and advance that lead was gutsy.鈥�

The Chargers outscored the Chieftains 36-8 in the paint and outrebounded their much smaller adversaries 40-26. Ten of Shiprock鈥檚 14 field goals came from beyond the arc.

鈥淚f they hit a couple more shots, they could have got us today,鈥� Joshua Skarsgard said. 鈥淚 mean, they're great shooters 鈥� they鈥檙e gutsy.鈥�

As for his daughter 鈥� and starting floor general 鈥� Joshua Skarsgard didn鈥檛 have a clear prognosis.

鈥淚 don't know the grade of the sprain, but she was able to play. I think you guys saw she wasn't laterally quick,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he's going to get ice, e-stim (electrical stimulation), Kinesio Tape鈥� We're going to dump a lot into her for the next 48 hours, so we'll see if she can go. But she was definitely not 100% in that second half.鈥�

鈥� Tristen Critchfield

鈥�> (1) Kirtland Central 68, (9) Lovington 25 | |

As the first quarter drew to a close, the looks of frustration and fatigue were already evident on the faces of the Wildcats. That鈥檚 par for the course against the Broncos (27-3), who earned their 19th victory by 30 points or more against Lovington (20-9).

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 fun (to play us), no,鈥� said Kirtland鈥檚 Haylee Nocki. 鈥淲e put a lot of pressure on you.鈥�

That might be an understatement. That Broncos scored 31 points off 29 Lovington turnovers, harassing the Wildcats with relentless pressure all over the court. Kirtland led by 15 points after one quarter, 29 after two and 38 after three. As a result, a running clock was in place for the duration of the final period.

鈥淟ovington has some pretty good players on there, but these girls were just a little more hungry this afternoon, and (our defense) is where we want it,鈥� said Broncos coach Devon Manning. 鈥淲e were just all over them for basically the entire game.鈥�

Both Nocki and Allyson Tsosie led Kirtland with 24 points apiece, and the two standouts combined for eight of their team鈥檚 nine 3-pointers. The Broncos also shared the ball, with five different players tallying three or more assists.

Ashelynn Borunda led Lovington with 16 points but shot just 6 of 18 from the floor, while 6-foot-6 post Abbi Shouse was limited to six points on 3-for-13 shooting for the Wildcats.

鈥擳risten Critchfield

鈥�> (2) Gallup 48, (7) Silver 38 | |

After beating the Colts by 35 and 25 points in two regular season meetings, the Bengals (26-4) had to take a different approach to earn victory in the trilogy. 

That started with defense, and more specifically, the efforts of Mykeia Vicenti, who had 12 of her team鈥檚 22 steals as the Bengals forced Silver (22-7) into 32 turnovers. That helped alleviate both a slow start for Gallup and a furious finish by the Colts in what turned out to be a closer-than-expected matchup. 

鈥淚 thought we played hard. Defensively, we played real well,鈥� said Gallup coach Todd McBroom. 鈥淔orced 32 turnovers on them 鈥� and so that's always a positive. When you can do that, even when you don't have your best night necessarily shooting the ball, you can still find a way to win depending on your defense.鈥�

Silver jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, with Nyssa Tinajero providing all of the offense for the Colts. The Bengals put on the clamps from there, holding Silver scoreless for approximately eight minutes while they went on a 12-0 run. After taking a 24-16 lead into haltime, Gallup appeared to be on the verge of putting the game away with a 11-0 run to begin the third quarter. 

The Colts didn鈥檛 quit, however, as they clawed back to within 45-38 with less than two minutes remaining before Gallup sealed the victory at the foul ine. Tinajero, who finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds, was a catalyst behind the Colts鈥� rally with eight points in the final stanza. 

As for Vicenti, she says it was likely a career night in terms of steals. She also led Gallup in both points (11) and assists (six), but it was that defensive effort that ultimately made the difference. 

鈥淲e started off really slow,鈥� Vicenti said. 鈥淣one of our shots were falling. And that frustration was coming in between the team. I thought I had to step up my game in order to win.鈥�

鈥� Tristen Critchfield

Girls Class 3A

Quarterfinals 鈥� Tuesday, Rio Rancho Events Center

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(5) Cobre 46, (4) Dexter 43 | |

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(3) Robertson 40, (6) Crownpoint 36 | |

鈥�> (1) Navajo Prep 48, (8) Tohatchi 33 | |

鈥�> (2) Santa Fe Indian 51, (7) Newcomb 28 | |

Girls Class 2A

Quarterfinals 鈥� Tuesday, Rio Rancho Events Center

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(3) Tatum 59, (6) Santa Rosa 43 |  |

鈥�&驳迟;&苍产蝉辫;(4) Laguna-Acoma 47, (5) Clayton 38 | |

鈥�> (2) Texico 54, (7) Pe帽asco 32 | |

鈥�> (1) Mesa Vista 54, (9) Jal 42 | |

*Note: The girls Class 1A quarterfinals take place on Wednesday.