Sandia Prep, St. Pius, Bears win with drama
Atrisco, Sandia advance in 5A boys
Sandia Prep won in overtime. St. Pius X won in overtime, too. Del Norte lost in overtime. Valley, a double-digit seed, advanced to Week 2. La Cueva won on a lastsecond free throw.
The first day of the boys state basketball tournament contained equal amounts drama and entertainment.
Class 5A NO. 9 ATRISCO HERITAGE 48,
NO. 8 RIO RANCHO 45: At Rio Rancho, a Jaguars’ 7-0 run to end the first half gave them what seemed to be a comfortable 28-16 lead at halftime.
But the Rams (18-11) turned up the defensive screws and cut the deficit to a manageable 37-30 as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.
Scoring the first seven points in the fourth period, thanks to Atrisco Heritage (21-8) missing shots from behind the arc — the Jags buried five of them in the first half — the Rams tied the game at 37 for what became a five-minute showdown to see whose next game would be in the Pit Wednesday.
Once again, the potent Jaguars — who lost a 44-41 District 1-5A tournament game at Rio Rancho just last week — scored the next five points and the teams were never tied again.
Chris Parra, who missed most of the district season and led AHA with 17 points, missed two free throws in the final 30 seconds to give the Rams life, and Jayden Johnson’s 8- foot jumper for Rio Rancho led to a Rans’ timeout with 13.8 seconds to go.
A Parra free throw made it 48-45, and Jamal Bynum missed a would-be tying 3 with 0.8 seconds to go for the Rams.
Johnson led Rio Rancho with 18 points, 16 of them after halftime. Rio Rancho was 0-for-10 from the arc, and was outscored by Atrisco Heritage 17-9 at the line.
— Gary Herron No. 2 SANDIA 65, No. 15 RIO
GRANDE 30: At Sandia, the Matadors’ high-pressure defense forced 23 turnovers, and they used a second-quarter blitz to earn a comfortable win over the Ravens in the first round.
Sandia (24-5) led just 12-5 after a sluggish first quarter, but outscored Rio Grande 25-5 in the second to take command. Dalen Moyer scored all 10 of his points in the second quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“We want to speed the game up,” Sandia coach Danny Brown said. “If you haven’t faced us before, our length, athleticism and speed really affects how you play. I think that’s what happened to Rio Grande tonight.”
Thomas Adams scored 13 points and Ely Lovato added 11 for the Matadors, who led 37-10 at halftime. Isaiah Lucero finished with 10 points and Jonah Lopez scored nine for the Ravens (15-13), who were unable to find any offensive rhythm against Sandia’s aggressive defense.
It wasn’t quite all good news for the Matadors, who sputtered through the third quarter and were outscored 12-7 by the hustling Ravens. Brown subbed out all five starters early in the quarter and later picked up a technical foul after his team received a bench warning.
The Matadors regained their form in the fourth quarter and steadily expanded the lead until both coaches emptied the benches in the closing minutes. — Ken Sickenger SANDIA 65, RIO GRANDE 30 RIO GRANDE (15-13): Jonah Lopez 9, Eliseo Velasquez 4, Iasaiah Lucero 10, Jacob Chavez 2, Santiago Gonzalez 5. Totals 12 4-10 30. SANDIA (24-5): Joaquin Higuera 3, Andrew Hill 7, Jahmil Crayton-Johnson 5, Dalen Moyer 10, Zaire Ndyabagye 3, Thomas Adams 13, Lamarion Coleman 2, Gerald Lujan 5, Ely Lovato 11, Mason Howell 6. Totals 27 4-8 65. Rio Grande 5 10 12 8 — 30 Sandia 12 25 7 21 — 65 3-point goals: RG 2 (Lucero 2); S 7 (Moyer 2, Higuera, Crayton Johnson, Ndyabagye, Adams, Lujan). Team fouls: RG 12; S 14. Technical: S head coach Brown.
ALSO SATURDAY NIGHT: La Cueva’s Ced Yates made one out of three free throws with 1.6 seconds to go, but the made one was the difference as the 11th-seeded Bears upset No. 6 Carlsbad 57-56. Isaiah Denetclaw buried a gametying 3-pointer for La Cueva with 4.6 seconds left, and Yates then stole the ball around midcourt. He went up for a shot from long distance, but was fouled on the play. He made the middle of three free throws. Yates led La Cueva with 16 points. Daniel Lovato added 14 points. The Bears play No. 3 Los Lunas at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 5Q quarterfinals at the Pit. … In Los Lunas, Geleio Griego’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer sent the Tigers to the quarters as they rallied to beat No. 14 Las Cruces 45-43. Jalin Holland led Los Lunas with 19 points. Ezra Guest added 14 points and Griego finished with six. “He’s had some big ones for us, but that’s the biggest,” Tigers coach Travis Julian said. … No. 1 Volcano Vista cruised past No. 16 Capital, 88-60. Senior post Sean Alter scored a season-high 27 points, Kenyon Aguino added 21 points and 10 rebounds, Hudson Brown scored 17 points and had five assists, and Anthony Gonzales contributed 12 points and nine assists for the Hawks. … At West Mesa, the fourth-seeded Mustangs eliminated No. 13 Santa Fe with a 56-41 victory. Elijah Brody scored 17 points, Sonny Ortiz 16 for West Mesa, which faces No. 5 Organ Mountain in the quarters.
Class 4A No. 6 HOPE CHRISTIAN 67, No. 11 KIRTLAND CENTRAL 51:
At Hope Christian, Jett Wyckoff
saved his best for last. In his final home game, the Huskies’ senior wing threw down seven 3-pointers on the way to a career-best 36 points to lead Hope into the state quarterfinals Wednesday against No. 3 St. Pius at 8 a.m. at the Pit.
“It’s just a great feeling to go out with a win in my last home game,” Wyckoff said. “My coaches have told me no matter what, it doesn’t matter how many times you miss, just keep shooting. I trust in the work that I have put in. It’s just starting to come now.”
After the Huskies (19-10) opened the game with a 9-0 run, the Broncos (18-10) clawed back in the second quarter to take a 24-22 lead.
Enter Wyckoff, who dropped consecutive 3s to spark a 10-0, half-ending surge that left Hope up 32-24 at halftime.
Although Kirtland Central several times got it back within five points in the third quarter, the Broncos could not contend with Wyckoff’s relentless barrage, or the Huskies’ unrelenting dominance on the offensive glass.
“We haven’t seen a lot of zones this year, and we worked on that a little bit in practice,” Hope coach Jim Murphy said. “Sometimes you live and die with it. But Jett got hot and it opened up other things for us.”
Noah Perry was the recipient of those openings as he was able to blow by defenders into a lightly guarded interior on his way to adding 15 points for the Huskies.
“We haven’t played for a while, and I think they were hungry,” Murphy said. “This time of year, hopefully the hungry guys will get fed.”
Hope and St. Pius split two regular-season games, each winning by one point. — Glen Rosales HOPE CHRISTIAN 67, KIRTLAND CENTRAL 51 KIRTLAND CENTRAL (18-10): Devin Ramone 3, Satchel Hogue 10, Diovanni Pinto 0, Tyler Joe 0, Sequoia Santee 6, Noah Dineyazhe 5, Andres Melendrez 8, Shawn Hullahon 0, Jeremiah Cly 0, Brandon Ockerman 13, Elijah Grey 6, Bryle Matthews 0. Totals 18 9-11 51. HOPE CHRISTIAN (19-10): Jett Wycoff 36, Jack Rupp 0, Noah Perry 15, Ian Koenigsberg 0, Nathan Saavedra 8, Caden Williams 3, Christian Schermerhorn 2, Max Montoya 0, Brayden Giron 0, Nico Gutierrez 2, Luciano Silvera 0, Daniel Fiest 0, Xacier Otero 1. Totals 24 11-16 67. Kirtland Central 11 13 13 13—51 Hope Christian 17 15 16 19—67 3-point FGs: KC 6 (Grey 2, Ramone, Hogue, Dineyazhe, Ockerman); HC 8 (Wycoff 7, Williams). Total fouls: KC 12; HC 11. Fouled out: none. Technicals: KC, Melendez.
ALSO SATURDAY NIGHT: No. 12 seed Valley took Gallup’s soldout crowd out of the game early, and the Vikings (14-14) proved to be the only upset winner in the 4A bracket in the first round as they beat the fifth-seeded Bengals 62-42. Charlie Lopez-Burton had a team-best 20 points for Valley. Julian Chavez added 15 points as the Vikes move on to play No. 4 Artesia. The Bulldogs eliminated No. 13 Valencia, 60-38. … At St. Pius, the third-seeded Sartans held off No. 14 Silver 59-56 in OT, as Jason Montoya scored 17 points and Gene Trujillo 16 for the Sartans. … Del Norte was not as fortunate, falling 73-68 at Deming in OT as the Knights came up short in their bid to reach the 4A state final for the third straight season. … At Albuquerque Academy, 4A’s top-seeded team, the Chargers, didn’t face any of that type of trouble as they routed No. 16 Goddard 82-52. Kellan Gehres buried five 3s and led Academy with 23 points. Joe Jack added 20 points. The Chargers made 11 3-pointers in their win. They next play Deming at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Pit. … At Highland, 4A’s second-seeded Hornets officially opened defense of their 2022 state title with an 84-41 demolition of No. 15 Pojoaque Valley. Alexis Dominguez had four 3-pointers in a big first quarter and led Highland with 25 points. Isai Herrera added 14 points, and the Hornets made a dozen 3s in their victory.
Class 3A
No. 11 RUIDOSO 74, No. 6 BOSQUE SCHOOL 68: At Bosque, four players scored in double figures and the Warriors converted their free throws down the stretch to upset the Bobcats on their home court in a Class 3A first-round pairing on Saturday afternoon.
Logan Sandoval had a teamhigh 20 points for Ruidoso, notably going 6-for-6 at the stripe in the last 20 seconds after Bosque had closed to within one point.
“Those were big,” Warriors coach Mike Trujillo said. “He’s a great athlete. Pressure doesn’t really get to him.”
Ruidoso (16-9) raced out to a 14-point first quarter lead and kept Bosque (20-10) at arm’s length for much of the game. Though they could never land the knockout blow, the Warriors still maintained a 10-point advantage with 2:30 to play. The Bobcats went on a 12-3 run behind Kyle Morris and Cooper Hautau to cut the deficit to 68-67, but Bosque ultimately never led as Ruidoso sealed the game at the line. Hautau led all scorers with 26, while Morris added 24 points for the Bobcats.
The Ruidoso offense slowed considerably when senior guard Tao Barnes picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. Without Barnes, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half, Bosque was able to extend its perimeter defense, which helped key the rally. Ultimately, the Warriors were able to survive without Barnes for the majority of the second half. Other double-figure scorers for Ruidoso included Ethan Gerthe (16) and Ben Ferguson (12).
— Tristen Critchfield
RUIDOSO 74, BOSQUE SCHOOL 68 RUIDOSO (16-9): Tao Barnes 15, Danny Pino 3, Ethan Gerthe 16, Logan Sandoval 20, Cooper Pritchett 0, Patrick Kimbrell 0, Mikey Rose 8, Ben Ferguson 12. Totals 26-FG 14-22-FT 74.
BOSQUE (20-10): Kyle Morris 24, Aidan Lester 3, Leo Dettweiler 2, Alex Starr 4, Cooper Hautau 26, Phineas Rankin 0, Josiah Wilson 2, Oliver Tumolo 7. 24-FG 15-27-FT 68.
Ruidoso 29141022 — 74
Bosque 15181124—68
3-Point Goals: R 8 (Gerthe 4, Barnes 2, Sandoval, Rose); B 5 (Hautau 3, Lester, Tumolo). Total Fouls: R 23; B 18. Fouled out: R, Barnes.
ALSO SATURDAY: No. 4 seed Sandia Prep trailed No. 13 Newcomb by eight points with 90 seconds to go in regulation, but staged a stirring comeback to force overtime, and then the Sundevils won it 67-65 in overtime on two Jaxon Feit free throws with five second remaining in the OT. Feit also supplied a huge 3-pointer in the rally in the fourth quarter, plus a free throw with 2 seconds left that tied the game. Alex Jeffries led the Sundevils with 24 points, and had a game-saving steal after Feit put his team ahead in the overtime. Sandia Prep will face No. 5 Crownpoint, which survived, 61-60 against No. 12 West Las Vegas. … Aside from Ruidoso, No. 9 Socorro was an uspet winner, 57-53 over eighth-seeded Tohatchi. The Warriors play No. 1 St. Michael’s in the next round; the Horsemen routed Tucumcari. No. 2 Navajo Prep and No. 3 Robertson also won easily; No. 7 Santa Fe Indian edged No. 10 Hot Springs 44-43 as the Braves face Navajo Prep in the next round.
Class 2A/1A
In the 2A first round, No. 4 seed Menaul, the defending state champion, advanced with a 68-49 home win over No. 13 Lordsburg. Menaul had 11 players score in its win, led by Abhishek Yadav’s 17 points. The Panthers play No. 5 Santa Rosa at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. The Lions had a close call, winning 48-47 over No. 12 Rehoboth Christian. All of the top seeds won in the first round, and all of them — except Santa Rosa — won by double figures.
Both of Albuquerque’s Class 1A playoff entrants were eliminated Saturday. No. 9 Legacy Academy fell 46-39 at No. 8 Logan, and the 12th-seeded Evangel Christian/ Oak Grove Classical Academy squad was beaten 57-45 by No. 5 Cliff. The 1A bracket featured two double-digit seeds winning Saturday: No. 11 Alamo Navajo and No. 13 Clovis Christian, which will be the lowest seed remaining in any boys or girls bracket when the quarterfinal rounds commence Tuesday and Wednesday in the Albuquerque metro area.