State Champions Reactions

SCORE: #3 Tohatchi 57 - #1 Eunice 50

RECAP
For two straight years these two teams came up short of making it to the championship but in this year's 3A finale both teams put a display of grit and talent that is sure to remembered for years to come. From the opening tip, it was Eunice who jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks in part to Harria Mendoza who finished with a game high 25 points. From there Eunice put on a display of efficiency in the halfcourt and dictating the tempo of the game. Player of the Year nominee Jada Jones did well commanding the flow of the game and setting up her fellow teammates for key opportunities throughout the game. After a back and forth first half, Eunice entered the break leading by five points.
Late in the third, Eunice jumped out to a 10-point lead over Tohatchi at 38-28. Immediately after began the Tohatchi run that would overtake the Lady Cardinals. A quick 3-point basket and then free throws by Tohatchi star Kalian Mitchell would cut the lead to five heading into the fourth quarter. From then on, it was all Tohatchi as the Cougars rallied in the fourth quarter to claim their first state basketball championship in school history.

STATS

Tohatchi
Kalian Mitchell - 20 points on 5 of 12 shooting and 9 of 12 from the line. Also 7 assists.
Cheyenne Begay - 15 points on 5 of 12 shooting including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Samantha Belone - 6 points and 11 rebounds

Team
16 of 43 from the field = 37%
7 of 22 from the 3pt line = 32%
18 of 25 from the FT line = 72%
10 bench points and 7 turnovers.

Eunice
Harria Mendoza - 25 points on 12 of 17 shooting & 11 rebounds
Jada Jones - 18 points on 7 of 16 shooting (4 of 8 from the FT line) and 5 assists
M'lee Vinson - 5 points and 5 rebounds

Team
20 of 46 from the field = 43%
0 for 11 from the 3pt line
10 of 18 from the FT line = 56%
38 points in the paint (vs. 18 for Tohatchi)

Bears have cut Cutler, Packers have made 30 million dollar offer to the Bears to keep him.

Does Elida capture their seventh consecutive state championship, or can Melrose put an end to the streak?

About 5 minutes from the tip.

SCORE: No. 1 Hope Christian 66 - No. 4 Robertson 42

RECAP
For the opening minutes there was a glimmer of "hope" for Robertson. But a 16-4 run over the course of two quarters put the perennial class leaders, Hope Christian up for good. Hope Christian was paced by Marcus Medina who finished with 19 points on 8 of 17 shooting. For Robertson, it was Arjay Ortiz who led the way with 14 points on 6 of 17 shooting. Robertson held their own early, but a stretch of turnovers and poor shooting doomed the Cardinals as Hope Christian built their lead on the errors of the Cards'.

STATS

Hope Christian
Marcus Medina - 19 points
Nelson Longmire - 13 points and 11 rebounds
Preston Ulibarri - 13 points and 6 rebounds
Chris Ward - 8 points and 7 rebounds
TEAM: 38% from the field, 24% from the three point line, and 13 of 19 from the FT line.

Robertson
Arjay Ortiz - 14 points and 14 rebounds
Kasean Pryor - 11 points
Noah Leger - 8 points
TEAM: 26% from the field; 7 of 23 from the 3pt line for 30%; and 7 of 17 from the FT line.

Post thoughts on the day or games here.

FRIDAY SCHEDULE
Final Four: Boys 4A

8am: Silver vs Portales

9:45am: Hope Christian vs Robertson

6A: #2 Las Cruces vs #3 Cleveland

SCORE: No. 1 PECOS 71 - No. 4 Dulce - 51

RECAP coming soon

6A - MARCH 9TH (WisePies Arena)
4:45PM: #8 Atrisco Heritage Academy vs #12 Volcano Vista
8:15PM: #2 Las Cruces vs #3 Cleveland

5A - MARCH 9TH (WisePies Arena)
3:00PM: #1 Roswell vs #13 Del Norte
6:30PM: #2 Capital vs #6 Los Lunas

4A - MARCH 10th (WisePies Arena)
8:00AM: #3 Silver vs #2 Portales
9:45AM: #1 Hope Christian vs #4 Robertson

3A - MARCH 9TH (Santa Ana Star Center)
4:45PM: #3 Santa Rosa vs #2 Texico
8:15PM: #1 Pecos vs #4 Dulce

2A - MARCH 9TH (Santa Ana Star Center)
3:00PM: #1 Magdalena vs #5 Mesilla Valley Christian
6:30PM: #2 Lordsburg vs #3 Mora

1A - MARCH 9TH (Bernalillo HS)
3:00PM: #1 Quemado vs #5 Springer
6:30PM: #2 Maxwell vs #3 Melrose

SCORE: Lordsburg 67 - Mora 57

RECAP coming soon

Winner will face #1 Roswell Saturday at 2 pm.

SCORE: Goddard 54 Roswell 52

RECAP
Well it's one thing to beat a team at home. It's another to beat them in the state tournament. But that's just what Goddard did for the second time this season. The Lady Rockets used a balanced attack early and found success from the 3-point line to gain the edge on the Lady Coyotes. Roswell though would find ways to rally whether it was off a turnover or getting to the free throw line. Despite dominating the paint with 26 points what doomed Roswell were numerous missed 3 point baskets (5 for 20 for 25%) and free throw shooting (9 for 21 for 43%). For Goddard, the success can be found in the play making of Micaela Kolker and Katherine Kolker. Micaela finished with 18 and Katherine with 19. Roswell was sparked by Kaitlyn Holl in the first half, and Jaedyn De La Cerda in the second half.
De La Cerda led a late rally to help cut the lead to one, but a missed rebound assignment led to a Katherine Kolker rebound and the Goddard win.

STATS
Goddard
Katherine Kolker - 19 points (6 of 9 shooting) and 6 rebounds
Micaela Kolker - 18 points (6 of 12 shooting) and 7 rebounds
Camaryn Villalpando - 10 points and 5 rebounds
TEAM: Shot 33% for the game from the field; 9 of 24 from beyond the arc, and 13 of 26 from the FT line.

Roswell
Jaedyn De La Cerda - 20 points on 7 of 18 shooting
Kaitlyn Holl - 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting
Deavion Allen - 7 points and 9 rebounds
TEAM: Shot 19 of 53 (36%) from the field; 5 for 20 from the 3-point line and 9 for 21 from the FT line (43%). Points in the paint 26 to 12 for Goddard.

NEXT UP
#5 Goddard moves to the championship game against either #2 Los Lunas or #3 Espanola Valley at 7:30 PM on Friday night.

6A Basketball
Saturday - 4:00PM
No. 5 La Cueva vs. No. 7 Sandia

5A Basketball
Friday - 7:30 PM
No. 2 Los Lunas vs. No. 5 Goddard


4A Basketball
Friday - 3:30PM
No. 1 Hope Christian vs. No. 2 Shiprock


3A Basketball
Friday - 1:30 PM
No. 1 Eunice vs. No. 3 Tohatchi


2A Basketball
Friday - 5:30 PM
No. 1 Tatum vs. No. 6 Escalante


1A Basketball
Friday - 11:30 AM
No. 1 Elida vs. No. 2 Melrose

After the ladies gave us 7 hours of excellent basketball, it's time for the boys to take over in The Pit.

SCORE: No. 3 Santa Rosa 78 - No. 2 Texico 73

RECAP
Cliches avoided, yes, it was a story of two different halves. District rivals Santa Rosa and Texico squared off and it was Texico that jumped out to a commanding 17-1 lead after one quarter of action. Worst yet, the Wolverines pounced on the Lions more so in the 2nd Q and even build a 22 point lead at one point. Entering the second half, Santa Rosa jumped back into the game with a quick run. Texico wasn't able to score until 3 minutes into the 3rd Quarter. And the blows kept coming for the Wolverines as their best offensive threats in Nathan Phipps and Braden Fraze fouled out.
With the pressure on Texico now, Santa Rosa went to work, clawing and scrapping for each possession. That effort was match by Texico's Dalton Thatcher who went to the line 21 times in the 2nd half and finished with a game best 31 points. But that wasn't enough as Santa Rosa forward Joaquin Romo went 7 for 8 and 8 of 13 for a team best 22 points. The Lions had a chance to finish in regulation but the shot was off and so they went into overtime. In the overtime period, Santa Rosa immediately used their height advantage and pounded the inside of the paint. Still Texico remained close as the final two minutes of the overtime period featured numerous trips the line for both teams. In the end though it was Santa Rosa who climbed back and clinched their spot in the Class 3A Championship game.

STATS

Santa Rosa
Joaquin Romo - 22 points
Cody Schattschneider - 14 points and 7 boards
Enrique Bachicha - 11 points
Emilio Ulibarri - 10 points
TEAM: 27% in the first half to 60.9% shooting from the field in the 2nd half. 29 for 41 from the FT line (71%) for the game.

Texico
Dalton Thatcher - 31 points (16 of 23 from the line)
Braden Fraze - 12 points
Nathan Phipps - 9 points
Ben Crist - 7 points
TEAM: 36% in the 2nd half; 47.6% for the game from the field. 29 of 42 from the FT line total for the game for 69%

*****FINAL FOUR SCOREBOARD*****

6A Final Four: #8 Atrisco Heritage Academy vs #12 Volcano Vista

Damian Ocampo back as head coach

Final Four Thoughts & Reactions

SCORE: LOS LUNAS 55 ESPANOLA VALLEY 54

RECAP
The buzzsaw that was Los Lunas cut their way through a Espanola team that ended up having a tougher core than the Lady Tigers expected. After some early back and fourth, Los Lunas put their foot on the gas in the early 2nd and took a commanding 25-13 lead midway through the 2nd Quarter. Things got worse before they got better for Espanola Valley despite Alexis Lovato's efforts in the paint. By the half, Espanola was trailing by 19 points.
At the start of the 3rd though a bit of life shined from the Lady Sundevils. EV cut the lead down to 14 then all the way to 7 points late in the quarter. Behind Alexis Lovato's 13 points in the quarter and power in the paint, EV made a run. With one minute left Espanola Valley cut the Los Lunas lead to four but Los Lunas would make a short run to get the lead back to 6.
Midway through the 4th Quarter, Espanola made their final furious run and regained the lead with 1:32 left in regulation. Some back and forth in the final minute led to Espanola just needing to inbound and hold the ball. Lovato fell out of bounds and Los Lunas received one more chance. Los Lunas did what they were doing best all game and that's rebounding off the offensive end. A Mica Jenrette putback put Los Lunas up one and Espanola couldn't get a shot attempt off before the buzzer sounded.

STATS

Los Lunas
Mica Jenrette - 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting
Hayley Torres - 11 points
Maya Trujillo - 10 points

Espanola Valley
Alexis Lovato - 31 points on 11 of 14 shooting. 9 of 11 from the line. 11 rebounds

NEXT UP
#2 Los Lunas will face #5 Goddard in the 5A Girls State Championship at 7:30 PM tomorrow night.

After we all catch our breath from that Roswell and Goddard game we have another exciting game coming our way! 11 minutes until player intros

First game of the day from The Pit