Buzzer beaters! Los Lunas, Bernalillo win first-round thrillers to advance
Huskies, Sundevils move into 4A QF
LOS LUNAS — Junior Hunter Wisneski hit an off-balance, underhand layup with less than a second left Saturday night to lift the host and sixthseeded Los Lunas Tigers past No. 11 seed Roswell Goddard 30-29 in the first round of the boys Class 5A state basketball tournament.
The Rockets hit a 3-pointer to take a 29-28 lead with 14 seconds left in regulation — and might have salted the game away at the free-throw line. But Goddard missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity with 8.9 seconds remaining, and Los Lunas came up with the rebound and took a timeout to set up the final play.
The Tigers’ Kayden Walker led his team with nine points. Martin Trujillo added eight for Los Lunas, which faces No. 3 Capital on Wednesday morning in the quarterfinals at the Pit.
Los Lunas (21-9) trailed 6-4 after the first quarter but took a 10-4 lead late in the second quarter. But the Rockets (1612) went on a 6-0 run for a 12-10 halftime lead.
The Tigers battled back to lead 17-16 going into the fourth quarter.
— Kenn Rodriguez
No. 13 BERNALILLO 52, No.
4 FARMINGTON 50: In Farmington, Austin Darnell’s layup at the buzzer gave the Spartans the biggest upset victory of any boys or girls team in the first round this weekend.
The Scorpions (23-5) had rallied from six points down in the final two minutes to tie Bernalillo (14-14) at 50.
But Bernalillo had the last shot and will advance to face district rival Española Valley on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Darnell and his cousin, Ty, both had 16 points to lead Bernalillo. Austin Darnell also had eight steals in the game.
Bernalillo and Española split their district games this season.
No. 7 GALLUP 46, No. 10 BEL
EN 33: At Gallup, the Bengals ensured that they would not have a repeat of their heartstopping win over the Eagles in last year’s first round.
The Bengals jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first quarter, then kept Belen (17-9) at bay the rest of the way. Gallup (22- 7) was led by Colton Lavley, who scored a game-high 16 points. The Eagles were paced by Bryan Valdez, who score a team-high 11 points.
Gallup next faces No. 2 seed Grants in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at the Pit.
ELSEWHERE IN 5A: Grants (24-3) made it three wins out of three tries against district rival Moriarty (12-15), beating the 15th-seeded Pintos 71-58 in the first round. … No. 3 Capital (25-4) had to rally late to knock off No. 14 Artesia (11-14) 41-38. … No. 8 Centennial (22-8) will face top-ranked Roswell (23-2) in the quarterfinals after the Hawks eliminated No. 9 St. Pius (17-12) by a 70-61 count and the Coyotes ousted No. 16 seed Del Norte (10-16), 80-64. … Española Valley (21-9), the 5 seed, defeated No. 12 Piedra Vista 65-56.
Class 4A
No. 1 Hope Christian (26-2) demolished No. 16 Cobre 70-28 on Saturday afternoon in the first round. The Huskies face archrival Sandia Prep in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Sundevils (13-15) defeated No. 9 St. Michael’s 61-56 behind 17 points from Daniel Stell.
The 4A bracket went according to expectations Saturday with all top seeds winning.
No. 5 Silver beat Shiprock 81-60, and will face No. 4 Pojoaque Valley next; the Elks outlasted No. 13 Socorro 50-46.
In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 2 Robertson and No. 3 West Las Vegas both won comfortably. The Dons face Bloomfield next after the Bobcats eliminated Santa Fe Indian, while the Cardinals meet Portales, which downed Kirtland Central.
Class 3A
There was only one firstround upset Saturday, that a 45-42 victory by No. 10 Navajo Prep over seventh-seeded Estancia.
No. 1 Lordsburg led the parade into Wednesday’s quarterfinals, which will be split between Cleveland High and
Rio Rancho High.
Class 2A
No. 7 seed Menaul (20-9) is still alive after the Panthers took out No. 10 Hagerman 66-63. Michael Ou led Menaul with 19 points. Next for Menaul is No. 2 Mora, on Wednesday. All the top seeds won Saturday.
Class 1A
This division went exactly like 4A and 2A, with no upsets among the eight first-round games. Both No. 2 Santa Fe Waldorf (Reserve) and No. 4 Maxwell (Floyd) were pushed hard before pulling out close victories.