4A Girls
No. 4 Gallup 69, No. 13 Pojoaque 29
The Elkettes needed a strong start to build confidence to compete with a storied program.
Instead, with a banged-up team, they quickly fell behind 14-2 early in the first quarter before losing by 40. But despite the loss, team coach Cindy Roybal was proud of what she saw at the end.
“They didn’t give up,” Roybal said. “They could have given up so many times, and they did not quit.”
Pojoaque struggled against Gallup center Rylie Whitehair, who towered over the Elkettes. Not helping matters was an early injury to Pojoaque forward Allison Paytiamo. And other Pojoaque players hit early foul trouble.
“The height killed us,” Roybal said.
Pojoaque had trouble breaking the press as they fell further and further behind, down by 14 after one quarter and 50-15 at halftime.
Monique Arrieta led Pojoaque with 15 points, more than half of their total, and Roybal called the freshman a steady guide for the team.
The Elkettes had a fantastic run, after going 2-14 in the district the last two seasons to this year winning a district title and making it to state for the first time in four years. With more time to improve, there is no telling where they could be.
Arrieta will return, but Pojoaque loses a strong class of six seniors. Roybal hopes to find more height through the school, and get more players to come out to the team.
2A Boys
No. 3 Tularosa 60, No. 14 McCurdy 49
The Bobcats had their eyes set on an upset, and did their best to make it happen.
They were within six points late in the game, after going down by double digits early. But they were unable to score the final points to narrow the gap. And spending most of the fourth quarter in the bonus under this year’s new quarterly fouls rule hurt them, coach Ernesto Espinoza said.
“We were in the game,” Espinoza said. “We had our chances. We had our moments.”
Espinoza said a good week of practice and a good gameplan gave them confidence for the game. At one point in the fourth quarter, they were down just one.
The entire rotation played well, Espinoza said, led by Lucas Martinez’s 25 points.
McCurdy has been stuck in recent years as a low seed facing tough first-round matchups, and they have not gotten out of the first round since 2019. A stronger start to seasons is needed to get more winnable games, possibly at home, in the first round.
McCurdy loses three seniors, including Martinez, but returns a strong junior class including leading scorer Ryan Montoya.
No. 4 Mesa Vista 72, No. 13 Jal 59
A hot start gave Mesa Vista the edge they needed to lead throughout the game, and eventually pull away for the win, their first state tournament victory since 2016.
The Trojans were up by single digits for most of the game. They scored 22 points in the first quarter. At halftime they led 31-24. They were able to extend the lead at the end of the third and early in the fourth quarters.
Facing a southern football school with a physical play style, the Trojans held their own.
“I thought we matched their physicality,” said Mesa Vista coach Thomas Vigil.
Jordan Gallegos scored 17 points in the win. And with starters in foul trouble early, freshman Ezequiel Nevarez stepped up for a big game off the bench, scoring 13 points, and Vigil credited his rebounding and defense.
“He’s a super confident kid,” Vigil said of Nevarez.
Mesa Vista next plays No. 5 Rehoboth Christian on Wednesday, after the Lynx narrowly won over Mora. Vigil called Rehoboth an experienced team, who has gone deep into the state tournament recently.
“If we have the right mindset, we’re going to be okay,” Vigil said.
No. 8 Santa Rosa 71, No. 9 Escalante 62
The Lobos had high hopes for the season after returning four starters from a team that made the quarterfinals. But they were never fully able to replace their point guard, and ultimately fell in the first round.
They were close the whole game with Santa Rosa, but unable to pull out a road win to advance.
Escalante fell behind 14-11 after the first quarter, and were down 30-25 at halftime. The Lions built a bigger lead into the third, and were up by 11 at the end of the quarter.
Escalante battled back and had a close game, but when their two top scorers fouled out with around three minutes left, they were unable to complete the run.
The Lobos lose five seniors from this team, including star Luka Torrez, and under coach Isaac Royston they will look for a way to bounce back the way they did last year.
2A Girls
No. 1 Mesa Vista 48, No. 16 Capitan 32
The Lady Trojans started their run toward a blue trophy with a big, if not dominant, win over the Tigers.
Capitan returned many key players from a team that went to the semifinals a year ago, so perhaps they were better than their No. 16 seed indicated. Mesa Vista coach Jesse Boies certainly thought so.
The Trojans missed some shots early and had to play tough as they slowly extended their lead. They led by just one after the first quarter with an unusually slow seven points, but were up nine at halftime. But late in the third quarter, they led by 17 points.
“It was a rowdy one,” Boies said. “The atmosphere was amazing.”
Boies said Tana Lopez took over the game in the second half, where she scored 11 of her team-high 18 points while running point guard. But at times, they struggled against a team that Boies said had four of their five starters taller than anyone on Mesa Vista.
“They needed to go against a team that was big and strong, and get them ready for Albuquerque,” Boies said.
Mesa Vista’s next challenge comes in Rio Rancho on Tuesday against No. 8 Laguna-Acoma, who are a good shooting team led by Gianna Carrillo.
No. 2 Tatum 64, No. 15 Escalante 27
Despite struggles throughout the year, the Lady Lobos entered the state tournament seeking a huge upset. And they certainly made an impact.
The Lady Lobos took a strong start, and even after a rough second half, scored more points than many of Tatum’s opponents on the year.
Early on, an upset looked possible. Escalante went up with a tough defense, and were leading 19-12 in the second quarter. At halftime, they had a 19-16 lead over the second seed, raising alarm bells across the state.
But it all changed at halftime. Foul trouble in the third quarter hurt Escalante’s size and ball handling. They could not break through a press defense or get stops near the basket.
Ultimately, Tatum won the second half 48-8. After trying to hold their ground in the third quarter, Escalante lost the fourth 32-4.
Felice Baca and Jayden Macias both scored six points to lead Escalante, where eight different players scored.
It was a trying year for the Lady Lobos after losing a big senior class that went to the state championship game twice, and with a new coach. After losing four seniors, Escalante will continue to work to rebuild under young coach Alex Marquez.
No. 6 Peñasco 66, No. 11 Clayton 31
As just a sophomore, Rochelle Lopez passed the 1,000-point career mark, and celebrated that along with a first-round victory.
Peñasco went up 16-4 after the first quarter, and never looked back in a 35-point victory.
It was Peñasco’s second-highest scoring game of the year, only behind a 76-70 loss to Mesa Vista.
Lopez led Peñasco with 18 points, while Analise MacAuley added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Charnelle Gonzales scored 15 points with eight rebounds.
Peñasco faces No. 3 Pecos for the fourth time this season. Their matchup at the Northern Rio Grande tournament went to triple overtime. The Pecos Panthers ride in on a 16-game win streak, with their 3OT win over Peñasco kicking off that win streak.
No. 7 Dulce 49, No. 10 Texico 45
The thriller of the weekend came on the Jicarilla Apache reservation.
The Lady Hawks battled from behind through the entire game to come out on top, taking down the defending champions to advance.
“It was exciting from start to finish,” Dulce coach Alyssa Veneno said.
Texico led 25-20 at halftime, and Dulce battled throughout the second half, taking a lead in the fourth quarter. From tied at 45 late in the game, Bailey Vigil gave Dulce the lead with free throws, and an intentional foul gave the Lady Hawks the edge.
Three players hit double figures in a balanced scoring attack. Veneno credited Kelby Enjady-Vigil as taking over the game in the fourth quarter to lead the team to a win. And Dulce’s bigs had to play strong defense while battling foul trouble in the second half.
“They came out, there were some key plays made, they did it,” Veneno said. “We didn’t have a very good shooting night, but they did what they needed to do at the end.”
The Hawks now face Tatum, who they see as well coached and with a strong defense. Dulce will have to hit shots to come out on top.
That game tips off at 8 a.m. in Rio Rancho on Tuesday. Dulce is having early morning practices to try to prepare.