Eagles overcome adversity, nemesis Hawks
Hobbs captures girls Class 5A title
It was a championship for all Hobbs Eagles, those present and those absent.
Class 5A’s top-seeded girls basketball team closed the season in grand style, leading the entire way as Hobbs beat No. 3 Volcano Vista 52-45 in the state final at the Pit on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles (28-3) prevented Volcano Vista (27-4) from three-peating.
“There’s a revenge factor, but more than anything,” Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter said, “these girls wanted to win their first.”
Saturday marked the fourth consecutive season that these two schools met in the final game. The Eagles won it all in 2020, the Hawks in 2021 and 2022.
This was a sometimes difficult and trying road for the Eagles. One of their top players, guard Wisdom Anthony, injured her knee early in the season and never returned. Another top player moved to Texas.
More recently, another starter, 5-foot-11 sophomore forward Kyndle Cunningham, was not in the lineup Saturday. She was ineligible to play after having been ejected in Thursday’s semifinal victory against La Cueva.
“Kyndle was still there on the (bench),” Carpenter said. “It’s been a tough week.”
He voice was trembling as he also said, “This one was for you, Wis, too.”
Hobbs, appearing in the state final for the sixth straight season, scored 12 of the game’s first 15 points, capped by Brynn Hargrove’s 3-pointer five minutes in.
Volcano Vista slowly worked its way back into the game. Lilliana Duncan’s layup cut a previous 9-point deficit to 15-14.
But, in a pattern that would repeat itself several times, shooting guard Nakia Mojica
knocked down a pair of 3s in response to a Volcano Vista push. Hobbs led 21-19 at halftime.
The Hobbs lead was just seven when Mojica struck again near the end of the third quarter, and Hobbs had its first double-digit lead at 33-23.
Volcano Vista junior forward Taejhuan Hill went to work early in the fourth quarter. She had a couple of short jumpers, and Duncan added a 3 in a quick 7-0 burst that left Hobbs nursing a 33-30 lead with 6½ minutes left.
But then Mojica stepped up again, raining in another 3. Jayla David added a layup 40 seconds later, the lead was eight, and the Hawks were out of steam.
“This was a gritty group of girls today,” Carpenter said.
Hill had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists — all team highs — for Volcano Vista,
“She’s a good player,” said David, who represented the only real size on the floor for Hobbs, at 5-10. “I knew I had to pick it up a lot, especially with Kyndle gone.”
The Hawks shot just 32.6% (15 of 46) from the field.
“I thought we had some good looks; it just didn’t go our way tonight,” said Volcano Vista coach Lisa Villareal.
Hobbs had four starters in double figures. Mojica and David each had 12 points, Bhret Clay added 11 and Hargrove 10 (plus four assists). The Eagles started four sophomores plus freshman Aliana Armitage, who replaced Cunningham.