5A girls: Longshot Carlsbad joins Hobbs, Sandia, La Cueva in 5A semis

Hobbs looked like the No. 1 seed. La Cueva’s upset extended the Bears’ season. And Sandia, in a most unorthodox way, also advanced.

All three of them were upstaged late in the night Tuesday by the Carlsbad Cavegirls.

It took all day, but the Pit finally delivered a great game on the opening day of the Class 5A girls state basketball tournament. It was the 12 seed, Carlsbad, that authored the moment, knocking out No. 4 Farmington in a quarterfinal thriller.

Thursday’s semifinals shake out this way: La Cueva-Sandia at 9:45 a.m., and Hobbs-Carlsbad at 1:15 p.m.

No. 6 LA CUEVA 44, No. 3 MAYFIELD 33: The Bears (22-7) were the better team at both ends of the floor, and avenged a regular-season loss to Mayfield to move into the semis.

Junior guard Jordyn Dyer was her usual sensational self, with 25 points, seven rebounds and six steals for La Cueva, which wrested control of this game in the second quarter against the Trojans (25-4).

“My team went into this knowing we can beat them,” Dyer said. “It was definitely a get-back. We knew this time, we had nothing to lose, we were the lower seed.”

There were five lead changes in the first quarter. An 11-0 run for the Bears turned everything. Dyer had seven of the points in this run, including a steal and subsequent three-point play midway through the quarter for a 23-15 lead.

Dyer added a mid-range jumper in the final minute as La Cueva led 28-19 at halftime.

“Jordyn is my leading scorer, but I have a hard time taking her off the court for all the other reasons,” La Cueva coach Marisa Cogan said. “Rebounds, the defense, the hustle, she goes and sets screens when she needs to … she’s just an all-around, well-rounded player, and that’s what separates her from a lot of people.”

Sparked by Dyer, the Bears stretched to a 14-point lead, 36-22, five minutes into the third quarter as she scored on a pair of drives and added a 15-footer.

“I thought the whole time, they played better than us, outhustled us,” Mayfield coach George Maya said.

Next for La Cueva is a Sandia team that beat the Bears by 18, 14, and 25 points in the regular season. The last time they met, in the District 2-5A tournament final, the Matadors scored the first 20 points.

No. 2 SANDIA 60, No. 10 RIO RANCHO 43: The Matadors (28-1) advancing was hardly a shock, but how Sandia advanced certainly had the Pit buzzing a little.

Standout senior guard Sydney Benally not only did not start the game for the Matadors, she didn’t make her first appearance until midway through the second quarter.

The cause? Illness, Sandia coach Lee Kettig said.

“She woke up, lot of stuff going (around), flu, stomach pain, whatever that is,” Kettig said. “(Luckily), I have a team that’s six deep, and (Sydney) happens to have a sister who’s very, very good.”

Kaiyah Benally, a freshman, ran the show by and large for Sandia. And she was outstanding, with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.

“I think I just had enough energy for what I played,” Sydney Benally said. She played approximately two quarters. “I’m excited that we got the win, I put all my faith and trust in my little sister.”

Still, without big sis in the game, this game was close and competitive throughout the half, which ended with Sandia in front 25-21.

The Matadors after halftime played their most Sandia-esque quarter of the game. Chloe Brown drained a 3 from the top for a 30-21 lead, and near the end of the quarter, both Benally sisters connected from long distance as Sandia took a 44-27 lead to the final quarter.

Kaiyah Benally said her sister’s insertion into the lineup had a ripple effect.

“I feel like she brought more balance and more calmness (to us),” Kaiyah said. “When we were in there without her, we felt too chaotic. When she came in, she calmed the team down.”

The Matadors’ veterans, who won a state title a year ago, all showed up. Hope Giddings scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Audri Wright added a dozen points, and Sydney Benally finished with 10 points and three assists.

Rio Rancho (21-11) didn’t help itself much with an awful shooting performance, 13-of-56 (23.2%) from the floor.

Sandia’s next challenge is to try to beat La Cueva for a fourth time this season, and attempt to contain Dyer, inasmuch as that is possible.

No. 12 CARLSBAD 60, No. 4 FARMINGTON 56: The best quarter of basketball Tuesday was the fourth quarter of this game, as the Cavegirls (20-10) and Scorpions (23-7) traded body blows.

Farmington, which was chasing Carlsbad just about the whole way, didn’t take its first lead until 3:49 left in the game, on a Caris Dale 3-pointer. That was the first of six lead changes in a riveting final four minutes.

The last of the six was Hayden Brase’s drive into the lane and bucket off the glass with 35.3 seconds remaining for the Cavegirls, and a 57-56 lead.

Senior guard Abbey Dugan, who was tremendous for Carlsbad — she was, in fact, the best player in the building Tuesday in any game or division — put it away with three late free throws. Dugan finished with 31 points, countless key shots, and nine rebounds.

Duggan was 11-of-19 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line.

Kjani Anitielu had a team-best 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Farmington.

No. 1 HOBBS 82, No. 8 CLOVIS 21: It was these five words, from Wildcats coach Jeff Reed, that more or less served as a proper summation:

“There’s nothing you can do,” he said.

In beating Clovis (22-8) for the fourth time this season, the Eagles (28-1) absolutely ran the Wildcats out of the building in a staggering performance. Hobbs scored 20 of the game’s first 25 points. The Eagles led 32-8 at the end of the first quarter, and 49-12 by halftime.

“We’re playing pretty well right now,” Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter said. “We’re sharing the ball and we’re getting scoring from all different places.”

The Eagles shot 32-of-61 (52.5%) from the field and made exactly half of their 20 attempts from beyond the arc.

“I feel like we’re peaking at the right time,” said senior guard Bhret Clay. And moments later, she said this: “I feel like this is the best basketball we’ve ever played.”

Hobbs has won its two playoff games by a combined score of 188-43.

Tuesday, the Eagles scored 47 points off Clovis turnovers, had 22 assists on 32 made baskets, and outscored the Wildcats 35-0 on the fast break.