Giant killers in Rio Rancho: Tohatchi in 3A, To’hajiilee in 1A
Magdalena remains perfect in 1A boys
RIO RANCHO — Talk about a jolt in the morning. Brooke Badonie scored 21 points and No. 4 Tohatchi became the second team in this tournament to knock off a No. 1 seed, when it defeated No.1 Robertson 51-39 in the Class 3A girls semifinal round at the Rio Rancho Event Center.
The first team to knock off a No. 1? It has just walked off the floor before Tohatchi walked on. In Class 1A girls, To’hajiilee opened the day’s play by beating top-seeded Melrose in the 8 a.m. game.
Tohatchi (22-9) meets Santa Fe Indian for the championship on Saturday at the Pit.
Alexix Martinez’s 15 points led Robertson (28-2), which Robertson managed one field goal (in 13 attempts) in the final quarter.
No. 3 SANTA FE INDIAN 37, No. 2 NAVAJO PREP 29:
In Rio Rancho, Jordyn Henry scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field for SFIS (23-7), which rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit. Tru Billie’s 12 points led Navajo Prep ((26-4).
Class 1A Boys
No. 1 MAGDELENA 50, No. 13 CLOVIS CHRISTIAN 23:
In Rio Rancho, Magdalena (31-0) routed surprise semifinalist Clovis Christian, setting up a 6 p.m. Saturday matchup with Fort Sumner/House for the state title.
D’Shaun Vinyard scored 16 points for Magdalena and Kael Stephens added 13. But the defense was the star.
No. 13 Clovis Christian (20-11), which advanced with wins over the No. 4 seed Maxwell and No. 5 Cliff, scored six points in the first three quarters and five in the fourth. Carter Teune scored 11 to lead Clovis Christian, which shot 2 of 19 on 3-point tries.
No. 2 FORT SUMNER/HOUSE 29, No. 3 MELROSE 25:
In Rio Rancho, Fort Sumner/House (282) shot 24 percent, and its leading scorers — Clay Norman, Joaquin Segura and Chance Thomson — managed only eight points apiece. And that was the team that won.
Jaxson Odom had a game-high 10 points for Melrose (22-7), which shot 29 percent and committed 14 turnovers to the winners’ five.
Class 2A Girls No. 1 ESCALANTE 46, No. 4 CAPITAN 33:
In Rio Rancho, Brycelyn Martinez scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Escalante (22-7) in its win over Capitan (23-7). Escalante, which lost last year’s final to Clayton by one point, advances to Friday’s 5 p.m. final at the Pit vs. No. 7 Texico. Emma Maestas added 11 rebounds for Escalante.
Tyla Gibson had 13 points for Capitan, which held tough and grabbed a 21-17 lead with 5:32 left in the third quarter on Haileigh Brown’s 3-pointer. But Escalante took control with a 15-1 run over roughly the next five minutes.
No. 7 TEXICO 45, No. 3 LAGUNA ACOMA 41:
In Rio Rancho, Catelyn Breshears scored 21 points for Texico (16-13), which held off Laguna Acoma (20-10) in a backand-forth matchup. Gianna Carrillo led L-A with 15 points, albeit on 3-of-19 shooting.
Class 1A Girls No. 4 TO’HAJIILEE 54, No. 1 MELROSE 53:
In Rio Rancho, Donata Secatero’s basket with 17 seconds to play held up in an upset of the top-ranked team in the classification.
To’hajiilee (27-1) advances to play No. 2 Roy/Mosquero in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game at the Pit.
Kaiden Wilson scored 17 points and Secatero 14 for the winners. Isabelle Sena scored a game-high 19 points, hitting all seven of her free throws, for Melrose (26-2).
NO. 2 ROY/MOSQUERO 55, NO. 6 ANIMAS 39:
In Rio Rancho, Natalie Smith and Sylvania Baca had 13 points apiece to lead Roy/ Mosquero (27-2).
Addy Offutt scored a game-high 17 points for Animas, whose season ended at 21-9.
Both teams shot 4-of-17 on 3s, and Animas outrebounded the winners 38-32. But Animas also committed 28 turnovers to Roy/ Mosquero’s 13, and the wasted offensive opportunities hurt.