Volcano Vista dominates; Los Lunas needs 2OT
Class 5A, 4A girls state tourneys down to semifinals
Volcano Vista’s romp through this abbreviated girls basketball season continued in the Class 5A state quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
The Hawks remained unbeaten, and rolled into the semifinals, routing visiting La Cueva, 58-24.
State title runners-up a season ago to Hobbs, No. 2 seed Volcano Vista (11-0) finds itself two wins away from rectifying that disappointment.
“You know, it’s May madness right now,” said Hawks coach Lisa Villareal. “The girls are excited to be here again.”
Volcano Vista will play host to No. 6 Eldorado (7-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals.
Through their first 10 wins this season, the Hawks’ average margin of victory was more than 33 points a game, and the closest contest was decided by 18 points.
That blowout trend was amplified Tuesday in a runaway first half, when Volcano Vista forced 19 first-half turnovers against No. 7 seed La Cueva, allowed just two total field goals, and raced to a
huge 37-5 advantage at halftime.
The Hawks’ press did ample damage to create easy transition opportunities, but an aggressive half-court zone defense also stifled the Bears (7-4).
Natalia Chavez scored a game-high 17 points for Volcano Vista. Giannah Aragon and Jaelyn Bates complemented Chavez’s offense, chipping in with 15 combined first-half points.
After Jerzie Jones’ three-point play for La Cueva made it a 9-3 game with 3:15 to play in the opening quarter, Volcano Vista closed the half on a 28-2 run.
“We played terrible,” said La Cueva coach Robert Perea.
— Patrick Newell VOLCANO VISTA 58, LA CUEVA 24 LA CUEVA (7-4): Rylie Ottman 4, Jerzie Jones 13 , Emma Cook 4, Alexis Ayers 1, Eva Love 1, Teona Savic 1. Totals 8 6-13 24. VOLCANO VISTA (11-0): Kennedy Brown 3, Jaelyn Bates 10, Giannah Aragon 12, Natalia Chavez 17, Kathryn Kemp 2, Taejhuan Hill 12, Angelyn Aranda 2. Totals 24 6-11 58. La Cueva 3 2 6 13 — -24 Volcano Vista 16 21 9 12- — 58 3-point goals: VV 4 (Chavez 3, Aragon); LC 2 (Jones 2).
NO. 4 LOS LUNAS 55, NO. 5 CLEVELAND 48 (2 OT): At Cleveland, senior Natalie Jojola had been a non-factor for the Tigers through regulation, managing only two points.
But she had 15 points in both overtimes for the Tigers (12-1), who overcame the Storm in the quarterfinals and advanced to play No. 1 Hobbs in Thursday’s semifinals.
Cleveland (10-3) opened the game on a 16-2 run. Only when the Tigers rallied in the fourth quarter did they keep alive their hope for a fourth straight state championship, although the previous three were in Class 4A.
Los Lunas had a chance to end the game in the first OT, but the Tigers were a woeful 2 of 7 at the line.
After a free throw early in the second OT gave the Storm a 42-41 lead, Jojola nailed back-to-back 3s and gave the Tigers the lead to keep. She also hit six free throws in the final 2:05 of the second overtime.
Jojola led the Tigers with 17 points. Shawntae Salazar finished with a team-high 15 for Cleveland.
The game was played at Cleveland, despite Los Lunas being the higher seed.
— Gary Herron LOS LUNAS 55, CLEVELAND 48 (2 OT) LOS LUNAS (12-1): Mia Guest 14, Jessica Otero 1, Marissa Hall 9, Natalie Jojola 17, Feleena Gabaldon 14. Totals 17 15-23 55. CLEVELAND: Shawntae Salazar 15, Angelique Abeyta 4, Alexa Madueno 11, Mia Nelson 2, Isabel Valdez 5, Brenna Wolfe 9, Allyson Frank 2. FG 17. FT 10-14. Los Lunas 6149 7 5 14—55 Cleveland 17 611 2 5 7—48 3-point goals: LL 5 (Guest 2, Jojola 3); Cle 4 (Salazar 3, Madueno).
ALSO TUESDAY: No. 6 Eldorado upset No. 3 Centennial 47-44 in Las Cruces, as senior guard Cece Barela scored 26 points to lead the Eagles (7-2). … Class 5A’s No. 1 Hobbs downed No. 8 Sandia 59-42. … The three metro-area girls teams in the Class 4A quarterfinals — No. 3 Bernalillo, No. 5 Highland and No. 7 St. Pius — all were eliminated on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals. The Spartans fell 48-45 at home to Kirtland Central.