No. 1 Bulldogs only boys team to avoid upset bug
Top 4 girls seeds advance in tourney
Junior forward Marlon Cunningham scored 15 points as Albuquerque High, the No. 1 seed at the Albuquerque Metro Championships, pulled away from visiting Valley 53-41 in the boys quarterfinals Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs (9-1) pulled away with a 13-3 run to start the fourth quarter to overcome their District 4-6A rivals.
“I thought the whole key was our defense,” Albuquerque coach Ron Garcia said.
Anthony Chavez led the Vikings (7-4) with 18 points, but only five of those came in the second half.
“We didn’t do a very good job coaching-wise getting him in position to score,” Valley coach Joe Coleman said.
Segun Oyeku’s 3-pointer started the third quarter on a positive note for Valley, which pulled within 35-34. From there, however, the Vikings went cold from the floor.
“We couldn’t score,” Coleman said. “It was close, we had a chance to take the lead and missed a couple free throws, a couple layups.”
Cunningham, who had sat out most of the third quarter after picking up his third foul, ignited the run with a layup. He would finish the run with backto-back baskets to make it 48-34, before eventually fouling out.
“I thought keeping Marlon on the floor was huge,” Garcia said. “What a difference maker inside. We were able to get it to him and he finished some shots.”
Next up for AHS is a semifinal matchup with No. 5 seed Rio Rancho on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Del Norte. — Chris Jackson No. 5 RIO RANCHO 69, No.
4 ELDORADO 57: At Highland, senior guard Juan Hurt scored 17 points, and forward Derrick Reyes added 15 as the Rams (9-5) pulled away from the Eagles (5-4) in the fourth quarter. The first time these teams played five weeks ago, Eldorado won 104-98. No. 11 SANDIA 68, No. 3
HOPE CHRISTIAN 46: At Sandia, the Matadors (6-4) enjoyed a huge first half and comfortably routed the Huskies. Jhonah Callahan had four 3s and 15 points to lead Sandia. No. 10 VOLCANO VISTA
69, No. 2 CLEVELAND 60: At Atrisco Heritage, both David Cormier and Jalontae Gray had double-doubles as the Hawks (7-5) upset their District 1-6A rivals. Cormier had 26 points and 10 rebounds; Gray added 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks face Sandia in the late semifinal Friday at 7:15 p.m. at Del Norte.
Girls
No. 4 LA CUEVA 46, No. 12
RIO RANCHO 45: At La Cueva, senior Delaney Markham’s two free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining capped a huge second-half comeback as the Bears (7-4) advanced into the Metro Championships semifinals against Hope Christian on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Manzano.
Rio Rancho (5-7) led 37-24 with a minute left in the third quarter, was in front 37-26 when the fourth quarter began and was still up by nine at 41-32 with 4½ minutes to go.
But about midway through the quarter, the Rams — who only go nine deep and who had an emotional victory in the first round on Tuesday against Sandia — appeared to hit a wall physically. La Cueva’s defense capitalized by continually turning Rio Rancho over.
“In the fourth quarter, we decided to attack the hoop, and got some easy buckets. I thought our pressure bothered them,” La Cueva coach Robert Perea said.
The Rams were nursing a 45-41 lead in the final minute when Deja Sandoval’s 3-pointer from the top of the key — her only basket of the night — cut the deficit to one.
“I think our bench is a little deeper, and we had more energy,” said Markham, who scored 10 of her team-best 19 points in the fourth quarter. “You could feel it in the gym.”
Following a turnover, Rio Rancho’s Laura Gutierrez fouled Markham, who calmly drained both free throws. Gutierrez’s last-second 3-pointer was off the mark at the other end.
The Rams have three, 1-point losses this season. Before Markham’s two late free throws, La Cueva had only led the game for a total of 10 seconds, early in the third quarter. — James Yodice No. 2 ELDORADO 47, No. 7
VOLCANO VISTA 41: At Eldorado, the Eagles (9-1) had five players with at least seven points in their quarterfinal victory. Eldorado plays No. 3 West Mesa at 7:15 p.m. Friday at Manzano in the semifinals. No. 3 WEST MESA 40, No. 6
CIBOLA 32: At Cibola, Esperanza Varoz poured in 21 points, leading the Mustangs (11-1) into the semis. No. 1 HOPE CHRISTIAN 43,
No. 8 HIGHLAND 34: At Rio Grande, guard Charity Murphy and post Alivia Lewis combined for 26 points for the Huskies (9-1).