Valley-Atrisco, Round 3
Rio Rancho girls open with a huge run, advance to play Cibola in 1-6A final
One great half was plenty for the Valley High School boys basketball team on Friday night.
The Vikings led visiting West Mesa by double digits at the end of the first quarter, and the lead never dipped below that as Valley beat the Mustangs 59-41 in the District 4-6A semifinal game.
Valley led 36-17 at halftime in a very high functioning opening two quarters for the district’s No. 2 seed.
“That’s as well as we’ve played all year for a half,” Valley coach Joe Coleman said.
The victory sends the Vikings (17-8) into the tournament final at 7 tonight at No. 1 seed Atrisco Heritage (22-2). These two already have had two close games, with the Jags winning 45-41 and 55-54.
First-quarter 3-pointers by Zeke Roybal, Anthony Chavez and Seyi Oyeku staked Valley to a 20-8 lead after the opening eight minutes.
An early four-point sequence in the second quarter stretched the lead to 24-10. Chavez scored two late baskets, and Roybal drained another 3 just before halftime as Vikings swarmed all over the Mustangs, who failed to hit a single 3 in the first half.
Jose Vigil led West Mesa (18-9) with 16 points. Chavez had 15 points to lead Valley.
— James Yodice
LA CUEVA 66, MANZANO 62: At Manzano, the Bears converted critical free throws late and held off a Monarchs’ rally in the District 2-6A tournament semifinal.
La Cueva (17-9) advanced to today’s championship game at Eldorado at 5:30 p.m.
The game was tied 26-all at halftime, and the first half featured eight lead changes and four ties.
The Bears threatened to break the game open as Tyler Aeilts scored 14 of his game-high 18 points to spark a 23-9 run to give La Cueva a 49-35 lead with 2:42 remaining in the third period.
Manzano (15-10) gradually chipped away at the deficit, getting to within 59-56 with 1:55 to go following six consecutive points from junior forward Tyler Allen. From there, La Cueva relied on ball-handling and composure to pull out a win.
Isaiah Ortega, Lawrence Calais and Cristian Ramirez combined to hit five or six free throws for La Cueva in the final 40 seconds, including the two clinchers from Ramirez. — Tristen Critchfield CLEVELAND 87, RIO RANCHO 73: At Cleveland, junior point guard Nakqi Smith, who scored just two points in the first half, scored 14 in the third period, including the first 10 of a 12-1 Storm run to end that quarter, as Cleveland beat the Rams in the District 1-6A semifinal.
“I don’t like to say single-handedly, but he single-handedly got us the lead,” CHS coach Sean Jimenez said of Smith. “He got some layups, guys found him for 3s … If we have somebody else like him step up, we’re gonna be tough to beat.”
Cleveland (19-8) is at Volcano Vista at 7:30 tonight in the tournament final.
Aamer Muhammad, who finishing with 19 points, dished out five assists in the third quarter.
Rio Rancho (16-12) committed seven turnovers in the decisive third quarter, and 12 in the second half, while the Storm turned the ball over just twice. Rio Rancho had led 44-42 at halftime, after using a 13-0 run midway through the first half to take the lead.
Smith finished with 18 points. The Rams were led by David Patterson, with 20 points. — Gary Herron Girls RIO RANCHO 59, PIEDRA VISTA
35: At Rio Rancho, the Rams opened the game on a 21-4 run and cruised past the Panthers in the District 1-6A semifinal. Piedra Vista (22-6) had no answer for Rams senior post Kamirah Decker, who finished with a game-high 18 points.
Rio Rancho (20-7) has won 20 games in a season for the first time since the 2008-09. The Rams are at Cibola at 5:30 p.m. today in the championship game. — Gary Herron HIGHLAND 66, ATRISCO HERITAGE 40: At Highland, freshman Cailee Crawford had 31 points, and Esperanza Crespin added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets (205) who advance to today’s 4-6A final at 7 p.m. against host West Mesa.
LA CUEVA 62, CLOVIS 43: At La Cueva, Brooke Nelson had a gamehigh 27 points to lead the Bears (1510) past the Wildcats in the District 2-6A semifinal. La Cueva is at Eldorado at 7 tonight for the tournament crown. LOS LUNAS 42, BELEN 29: At Los Lunas, the Tigers (26-2) got 10 points from Maya Trujillo and nine from Mica Jenrette and pulled away late to win the District 5-5A tourney.