Manzano goes big in second half, takes over first in 5-5A
Hope, Sandia Prep boys clinch districts
For one half, very little went wrong for Albuquerque High.
For the other half, nothing went right.
One of the more important games of the boys basketball season also was one of the strangest. Visiting AHS drained 10 3-pointers and built up a 14-point halftime lead, but the Bulldogs had their doors blown off in the second half as Manzano took over first place in District 5-5A with a 76-54 victory on Wednesday night.
The Monarchs (14-9, 6-3 in 5-5A) outscored the Bulldogs (8-15, 5-4) by an astonishing 49-13 in the second half.
“We didn’t make any miraculous adjustments,” Manzano coach Dominick Romero said. “We just stayed the course.”
Albuquerque High, meanwhile, lost all its wheels, caromed off course and eventually crashed and burned. It was a phenomenal transformation from the first half to the second.
Jude Tapia had five of AHS’ 10 treys in the first half, and the Bulldogs’ final six field goals of the second quarter were 3s as they led 41-27.
At that stage, AHS was only 16 minutes from taking over solo first place in the district, and — with their record — potentially causing a major disruption to the Class 5A playoff bracket.
The Monarchs regrouped, however, making 12 of 15 field-goal attempts in the third quarter. Jack Blankenship had eight points, Tyler Allen seven and Roman Romero six as Manzano outscored the Bulldogs 28-4 in the third quarter.
The quarter couldn’t have gone any worse for AHS, whose 14-point lead dissolved into a 10-point deficit, 55-45, to start the final quarter.
And it didn’t get any better for AHS in the fourth quarter, either.
Blankenship scored 16 of his 20 points after halftime. Allen led the Monarchs with 22 points. Dakota Powell had 10 of his 13 in the final two quarters.
“I think defensively, we just tried
to do a better job of contesting shots,” said coach Romero. “Because (the Bulldogs) were all feeding off each other in the first half. It was unbelievable.”
The victory puts Manzano in a position to clinch the regular-season championship Friday, with a road game at Capital (17-8, 4-5).
But there could still be a three-way tie, if on Friday the following occurs: Manzano loses, Albuquerque High beats Sandia (9-14, 3-6), and Santa Fe (18-7, 5-4) defeats Rio Grande (8-15, 4-5). The Demons beat Capital 57-47 on Wednesday.
“It’s nice to be in the driver’s seat,” Romero said. “It comes down to 32 minutes on the road in a tough environment.”
Tapia had only two points after halftime and led the Bulldogs with 20 points. — James Yodice VOLCANO VISTA 64, RIO RANCHO
55: At Volcano Vista, senior guard Jalontae Gray scored 14 of his teamhigh 18 points in the second half as the second-ranked Hawks took a onegame lead over the fifth-ranked Rams in a battle for first place in District 1-5A.
Rio Rancho (19-6, 5-2) had a 33-28 lead at halftime and a 47-46 edge after three periods.
After a put-back by Blaine Gallegos, who led the Rams with 18 points, the teams were knotted at 51 with five minutes to go.
But the Rams managed only two field goals in the time that remained, and Volcano Vista (20-3, 6-1) closed out the victory on a 13-4 run.
Back in action after missing a handful of games due to a foot injury, Cesar Madrid had 10 points for the Hawks, as did Ben Manzano.
Volcano Vista, which lost the earlier meeting with Rio Rancho 58-56, can secure the regular-season title tonight if the Hawks can win at Atrisco Heritage.
David Patterson led Rio Rancho with 17 points. The Rams are home tonight for Cleveland, and need a victory, plus a Volcano Vista loss, to force a playoff game Tuesday. — Gary Herron HOPE CHRISTIAN 72, VALLEY 60: At Hope, Class 4A’s second-ranked Huskies (17-8, 8-1 in 6-4A) clinched their district regular-season championship as they defeated the secondplace Vikings (11-12, 5-4).
Johnny Nitafan had 17 points to lead Hope Christian, which had five players in double figures.
SANDIA PREP 73, CUBA 60: In Cuba, sophomore guard Sam Henderson tied a school record with seven 3s, and scored a team-best 34 points as the Sundevils (16-9, 9-0) clinched the District 5-3A crown.
Also, with No. 1-ranked St. Michael’s having fallen Wednesday, Sandia Prep might be in line for the No. 1 seed for the upcoming state tournament.
CLEVELAND 78, CIBOLA 39: At Cleveland, senior guard Jalen Munn had a team-high 16 points, and the sixth-ranked Storm (20-5, 3-4) put up 55 first-half points in a rout of the struggling Cougars (1-22, 0-7). Girls
WEST MESA 75, ELDORADO 46: At Eldorado, senior guard Maiah Rivas had 18 points, and running mate Espi Varoz reached the 1,000-point plateau for her career as the Mustangs (21-2, 5-2 in 2-5A) beat the Eagles.
Varoz entered the game needing 13 points to reach 1,000; she finished with 14. Rivas attained that milestone number several weeks ago for No. 3-ranked West Mesa, which closes the regular season Friday at La Cueva.
The Mustangs, to force a playoff with Piedra Vista, must win and hope the Panthers lose their finale. PIEDRA VISTA 49, LA CUEVA 48: In Farmington, freshman guard Lanae Billy’s layup with 5 seconds remaining was the game-winner as the second-ranked Panthers (22-3, 6-1) held off a fourth-quarter rally by the seventh-ranked Bears (18-5, 3-4).
Junior guard Kaya Ingram of La Cueva hit a 3-pointer and also a pair of free throws to put the Bears in front 48-47 with 46 seconds to go.
Piedra Vista can win the district regular-season title if the Panthers defeat rival Farmington (20-6, 4-3) later this week. RIO RANCHO 33, VOLCANO VISTA 32: In Rio Rancho, Laura Gutierrez connected on a 27-foot 3-pointer with 2 seconds left for the game-winner, and the Rams (16-9, 6-1) pulled even with the Hawks (18-5, 6-1) for first place in 1-5A.