Volcano Vista topples Bulldogs
Atrisco Heritage defeats La Cueva
Among the specific goals Volcano Vista boys basketball coach Greg Brown imagined for his Hawks this season was this one: he wanted his program to finally produce a strong regular season, start to finish. So far, so good. The sixth-seeded Hawks on Wednesday night beat No. 3 Albuquerque High in the quarterfinals of the Albuquerque Metro Championships, joining No. 1 Atrisco Heritage, No. 2 Cleveland and No. 4 Eldorado in Friday’s semifinals at Eldorado.
The Jaguars and the home team square off at 5:30 p.m., followed at 7:15 by the Hawks and the Storm.
The final is 4 p.m. Saturday at Eldorado. No. 6 VOLCANO VISTA
68, No. 3 AHS 58: At Volcano Vista, Cesar Madrid and Jalontae Gray took over the game in the third quarter, as those two combined for all the points in a 15-4 run that broke the game open for the Hawks (7-3).
Most of their points came at or near the basket, while AHS big man Marlon Cunningham was out of the game.
“We both felt like it was wide open (inside),” said Gray, who led Volcano Vista with 24 points — 17 coming in the second half. “They didn’t have any help in the lane.”
The Hawks only led by one, 31-30, at halftime. But after that work by Madrid and Gray, the Bulldogs (7-3) were never a factor again.
“We have good balance, and we are at our best when we can get the ball inside,” said Hawks coach Greg Brown, whose team shot a stellar 61 percent from the floor. “I thought our shot selection was good, and we did a nice job of getting the ball where it needed to be in the second half.”
Madrid scored eight of his 11 points in the third quarter. Josh Parmenter scored 17 points for Volcano Vista.
Silas Cole had a terrific game for AHS, scoring 26 points. Guard Randy Castillo added 13 points, but
only two in the second half as the Hawks’ Dion Battle did an excellent job defending Castillo. — James Yodice No. 1 ATRISCO HERITAGE 76, No. 9 LA CUEVA
66: At Atrisco Heritage, sophomore guard Joziah Ramos went off for six 3-pointers and a gamebest 28 points, leading the Jaguars (9-1) into the semifinals, where they’ll have a second visit at Eldorado.
Atrisco, which has won nine straight, won at Eldorado 65-55 on Nov. 28.
“We’re looking forward to the matchup,” AHA coach Adrian Ortega said. “Obviously they’re well
coached, and they’ve got talent.”
Ramos has been riding a hot hand all season; in back-to-back games last month, he went off for 42 against Hobbs and 32 against Gadsden.
Jordan Arroyo added 12 points for the Jaguars, who finally got some separation on the Bears (5-4) in the final moments. Tyler Aeilts had 19 points, Lawrence Calais 18 for La Cueva. No. 2 CLEVELAND 67,
No. 10 VALLEY 65: At Valley, Tre Watson’s key offensive rebound and putback with under three minutes to go was crucial for the Storm (11-3) as it collected a quarterfinal victory over the Vikings (6-5).
Valley led early in the fourth quarter before Cleveland chipped away and finally took the lead on Watson’s bucket.
Cleveland had balanced scoring; the Storm had six players with at least seven points, led by Taylor Turner’s 11.
Segun Oyeku led Valley with 20 points. No. 4 ELDORADO 68,
No. 5 SANDIA 49: At West Mesa, the Eagles pulled away in the second half after a very close first half and advanced to the semis.
Mike Mounho hit a 3-pointer in the latter stages of the third quarter to kick-start a strong push by the Eagles (8-2). There was also a stretch of 40 seconds where Eldorado made several layups as it finally got on top of the Matadors (7-3).
Kameron Valencia led the burnt orange with 16 points. Tyler Quintana added 15 and Tyler Rodgers 13 for Eldorado.