West Side story in title game
No. 1 Cibola, second-seed Volcano Vista will meet
RIO RANCHO — Both teams saw this showdown coming.
Top-seeded Cibola and No. 2 Volcano Vista will take their girls basketball rivalry to the next level Saturday, squaring off at the Pit for a Class 6A championship. The Cougars rolled to a 59-28 semifinal win over Carlsbad at the Santa Ana Star Center on Thursday, and the Hawks followed with a 54-48 victory over Las Cruces.
As a result, Cibola and Volcano Vista will play for a blue championship trophy at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
“This is what we wanted,” Hawks junior Melissa Mancha said. “We expected to play Cibola one more time.”
District 1-6A rivals, Cibola and Volcano Vista have met four times this season with the Cougars winning three. Two of those games came down to the wire, however, and the Hawks handed Cibola its only loss early in the season.
“Volcano Vista matches our athleticism,” Cougars coach Lori Mabrey said. “It’s never easy against them, and we know we’ll be in for another fight.”
The two Albuquerque West Side programs have established themselves as perennial title contenders in recent years, appearing in four of the last five big-school finals and winning three championships. They have not played each other in a title game.
“I think this is the matchup everyone wanted to see,” Hawks coach Lisa Villareal said. “I know we’re looking forward to it.”
No. 1 CIBOLA 59, No. 4 CARLSBAD 28:
Defense carried the day for the Cougars (27-1), whose relentless man-to-man pressure proved too much for the Cavegirls (27-3).
Guards Amaya Brown and Kavi Brown shadowed Carlsbad’s high-scoring Carsyn Boswell all over the court and made her work extremely hard for her 16 points. Boswell was 4 of 11 from the field and had six turnovers.
“We watched film on them,” Amaya Brown said, “and I was not going to let (Boswell) drain 3s on me.”
Cibola’s pressure limited the Cavegirls to just 16 points through the game’s first three quarters. Meanwhile, Amaya Brown rolled up her usual impressive stat line (15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals) to help the Cougars build a comfortable lead. The sophomore was named Gatorade New Mexico Player of the Year on Thursday.
Asked what set the Cougars’ smothering defense apart, Carlsbad coach John Zumbrun could only chuckle.
“Genetics,” he said. “They’ve got a couple of girls faster than ours at every position. Their defensive pressure overwhelmed us.”
Cibola also had its perimeter offense clicking Thursday. The Cougars went 6 for 8 from 3-point range with both Tiana Guillory and Janessa Negron hitting 2 for 2 and finishing with 10 points.
The Cougars outrebounded Carlsbad 37-21, forced 17 turnovers and scored 22 points off takeaways.
No. 2 VOLCANO VISTA 54, No. 6 LAS CRUCES 48:
Mancha got things started and teammate Raven Herrera finished them off as the Hawks (24-5) held off a determined rally by the Bulldawgs (21-10).
Mancha scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the first half, hitting three 3-pointers, and Herrera scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half. Herrera added 12 rebounds to complete an impressive double-double and sparked a key 8-0 run after Las Cruces grabbed a fourth-quarter lead.
“It was a game of runs,” Villareal said, “and we just happened to make one at the end — thank goodness.”
Volcano Vista also made an early surge behind the hot shooting of Mancha, who is normally known more for distributing than scoring.
“It was more than I’ve seen myself look for shots,” she said with a laugh. “I guess I was just feeling it.”
Las Cruces trailed 25-13 midway through the second quarter but fought back behind Sarah Abney (17 points) and some timely 3-point shooting. The Bulldawgs hit 9 of 18 from behind the arc and grabbed their first lead, 39-38, on Megan Guadian’s jumper early the fourth quarter.
But the Hawks regained control behind Herrera, who scored five points during a key 8-0 run.
“I was definitely letting our guards know I was open on the low block,” Herrera said.
The Hawks finished things off by hitting all six of their free throws down the stretch. Jayden Perez and Guadian finished with 11 points each for Las Cruces.