5A boys: Sandia and Volcano Vista roll, once more, into final

Volcano Vista’s four-peat quest has one final, familiar, formidable obstacle to clear.

The top-seeded Hawks, along with No. 3 Sandia, were both extremely impressive as they won by a combined 62 points in Thursday’s Class 5A boys state basketball tournament semifinals at the Pit. This sets up, for the second time in three years, the curtain closer to the prep basketball season between the two.

Tipoff is 8 p.m. Saturday.

No. 3 SANDIA 74, No. 2 HOBBS 39: Those old television ads, the ones that used to boast about how quickly a car could get from 0 to 60 seemed to apply to the Matadors.

It wasn’t just that Sandia scored the first eight points against Hobbs. Or that the Matadors started this semifinal with a blistering 21-3, game-defining run right out of the gate.

It was the lightning manner in which the Matadors accomplished this burst from 0 to 21. They were fast, they were lethal and they ran right over the Eagles.

Sandia’s dual-threat ability was on full display, and that opening sequence was a prelude to a surprisingly one-sided victory over Hobbs. If prep basketball had the equivalent of a first-round TKO, it would have looked something like this.

“I felt it was possible, for sure,” Matadors coach Danny Brown said of the game’s first five minutes. “We got off to a great start, and that kind of got us going.”

Considering these were two of the top three teams (by seed) in the 5A bracket, the early flurry, and ultimate blowout nature of this matchup, was more than a little baffling.

Senior guard Zaire Ndyabagye and freshman guard Isaiah Brown hit 3-pointers in the first 1:15, and Sandia tallied the first eight points. Moments later, the Matadors blew the lid off the joint.

Ndyabagye scored seven in a row, including an ally-oop layin, plus a straightaway 3. It was 15-3.

On it went.

Brown for 3.

Ndyabagye for 3.

Now 21-3 and the game not even five minutes old, Hobbs coach Ronald Ross was forced to confront the situation. He clearly wanted to ride out the storm, but finally was compelled to burn a timeout.

“They were white-hot,” Ross said. “Defensively, we have been bad in transition, and they capitalized every way they could.”

Coach Brown said the 21 points were tied to the defensive end.

“They’re locked in, and I’ve been telling them the last few games, they’ve been playing at an elite pace defensively,” he said.

Brown was asked if Sandia (27-3) had a start to any game this season that resembled this one.

“Not that way,” he said. “We probably did it offensively a little bit, but not the offense and defense together.”

Things didn’t improve much for Hobbs (26-7). Sandia made six of its eight tries from the 3-point line in the first quarter alone and finished with 13 triples.

The Matadors played much more like a 2 seed than a 3, so it was fair to inquire with players if Sandia felt slighted by the seedings.

“The number didn’t really matter to us,” Ndyabagye said. “We were just ready to come out here and play. But we had that chip on our shoulder. We had that in the back of our mind, that we were truly the 2.”

Ndyabagye had 32 points and nine rebounds, both team highs. Brown had a dozen points and half a dozen assists.

Abraham Peña’s 13 points led Hobbs.

No. 1 VOLCANO VISTA 70, No. 4 ROSWELL 43: Aside from the dazzling expertise from beyond the arc by the Hawks’ renowned sniper, senior guard Rian Gonzales, this was a workmanlike performance as Volcano Vista (28-2) moved into the 5A final for the fourth straight year.

Gonzales was smooth and special from distance on Thursday night, making 9 of his 10 tries from beyond the arc and finishing with a team-best 27 points.

“It was just another one of those nights, to be honest,” said Gonzales, who earlier this season made a state-record 17 from the arc in a win over Piedra Vista.

He had a late flurry of four 3s within less than two minutes to conclude his night against the Coyotes (24-8).

And his work helped the Hawks navigate a tough night for their senior standout forward Kenyon Aguino, who had 11 points (and 13 rebounds) on a night when his close shots just wouldn’t fall.

Volcano Vista led 12-7 after the first quarter but slowly extended to 31-14 by halftime. Aguino struggled, sophomore David Lunn, who finished with 18 points, missed a lot of minutes in the first half with fouls. But the Hawks were still fully in control.

The lead swelled little by little in the second half, capped by Gonzales’ impressive marksmanship.

Volcano Vista has beaten Sandia twice this season, both by single digits, including a very close game in the metro final two months ago.