PREP HOOPS
Eldorado, Cleveland to meet; Atrisco to face Las Cruces
Eldorado is impressive in 6A boys victory
Three of last year’s Class 6A boys state semifinalists are back in the final four.
The top three seeds — Eldorado, Las Cruces and Atrisco Heritage — moved into today’s semis without crisis. That trio and Cleveland won quarterfinal games Wednesday at Dream-style Arena.
Las Cruces and Atrisco Heritage are in the 4:45 p.m. semifinal today at the Pit. Eldorado and Cleveland tip off at 8:15. The Bulldawgs, Jaguars and Storm all reached this round a year ago. No. 5 CLEVELAND 53, No. 4 VOLCANO VISTA
50: In the fifth meeting between the teams this season, Aamer Muhammad scored 16 points to lead Cleveland, which forced turnovers on four consecutive fourth-quarter possessions in the final two minutes to spark the comeback.
With Volcano Vista leading 44-39, the Storm (21-9) turned on its best weapon, its pressure defense, and that sparked an 11-2 run to a 50-46 lead with 42 seconds remaining.
“I told my guys, we have to step up our pressure now or we’re going home,” Cleveland coach Sean Jimenez said.
Volcano Vista had a last-second chance to tie, but could not get off a shot at the buzzer.
Volcano Vista (20-7) was trying to protect a lead late against its District 1-6A rival, but Cleveland’s defense — which was troublesome for Volcano Vista in the one other game it lost to the Storm — led to that 11-2 run.
Cesar Madrid came off the bench to score 17 points with eight rebounds for the defending
state champion Hawks (20-7).
Cleveland forced Volcano Vista into 21 turnovers, including seven in the final quarter. — Glen Rosales No. 1 ELDORADO 79, No. 8
WEST MESA 68: The Eagles (25-2) performed at a high level against the Mustangs (19-10). Even for them.
Eldorado shot 63 percent from the field (26-for-41) and went 11-for-16 from the beyond the arc as the Eagles won their 20th game in a row.
Their potent starting unit scored 77 points, as four of the five scored in double figures. That group was led by Tyler Quintana’s 21 points, which included a 5-of-6 showing from 3-point range.
West Mesa played exceptionally well in the first half — Eldorado, despite shooting 60 percent in the first half and making eight of 11 from the arc, led only 36-33 at the half — and was hanging with Eldorado deep into the third quarter. However, a 9-0 run by Eldorado fueled by Kameron Valencia and Tyler Rodgers that started late in the quarter took the Eagles from a 52-46 lead to a 61-46 lead.
Rodgers added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Kameron Valencia scored 17 points, had a team-best seven rebounds and dished out five assists.
Jose Vigil had 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists for West Mesa, which committed only five turnovers. No. 3 ATRISCO HERITAGE 59,
No. 6 VALLEY 37: The Jaguars (24-3) authored a commanding performance at both ends of the floor as they dominated their District 4-6A rival.
Atrisco Heritage shot 56 percent from the floor (20-for-36) while holding Valley to 32 percent (14-for-44).
Junior DeMarcus Sutphen, the metro’s defensive player of the year as a sophomore, kept Valley senior guard Anthony Chavez in check. Chavez finished with 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting. Ten of those 16 points came in the fourth quarter after the game was decided. Sutphen had him under wraps most of the night.
“Our game plan was to spot Anthony 20 points, and we wanted to make sure the rest of the guys didn’t light us up,” Jags coach Adrian Ortega said.
Atrisco had the best of both worlds. Chavez was largely ineffective, and Valley (19-9) didn’t have enough viable options to help him.
“Valley’s offense doesn’t go anywhere if it’s not in his hands,” Sutphen said.
Jaguars senior forward Jordan Arroyo, like Chavez a future preferred walk-on at New Mexico, was right at home on his future home floor, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He hit a big 3 at the end of the third quarter for a 30-18 lead. No. 2 LAS CRUCES 68, No. 7 HOBBS 55: The Bulldawgs (291) avenged their only loss of the season and led from start to finish against the Eagles (21-10). The game was somewhat marred when Hobbs’ leading scorer, senior forward Clay Strasner, injured his ankle in the first quarter.
Strasner’s offense and defense were sorely missed. He averages close to 27 points a game but finished with only two Wednesday.
At the other end, Las Cruces senior forward R.J. Brown probably benefited most from Strasner’s absence, as he scored 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Still, Hobbs was down just 31-28 early in the third quarter after opening the second half on a 7-0 run.
But Las Cruces countered with a 15-5 run. Brown had a pair of offensive rebounds and putbacks, and both Markus Collins and Cayden Sherwood buried 3-pointers at the back end for a 46-33 lead.
The Bulldawgs had 19 assists on 27 baskets, and six Las Cruces players had multiple assists.