Albuquerque High girls, ranked 4th in the state, continue to impress

Some of the quietest and yet effective résumé-building in Class 5A girls basketball has been going on right in the middle of Albuquerque, at the city’s oldest public high school.

You could glance at the latest 5A coaches’ poll and puzzle this together easily enough.

Volcano Vista? Three wins against the Hawks. Los Lunas? Two against the Tigers. Plus victories over La Cueva and Rio Rancho.

All those teams are ranked in the top 10 this week.

And after Friday night, the under-the-radar Albuquerque High Bulldogs almost certainly locked up something that has been eluding this program the last couple of years:

A first-round home game in the state tournament.

The fourth-ranked Bulldogs (18-4), led by the fantastic play of eighth-grader Abby Pavia, who scored the game’s final four points, all but cemented the District 5-5A regular-season championship Friday, holding off sixth-ranked Los Lunas 50-46 in a tense and sometimes combative showdown at Bulldog City.

“You know, we just wanted to come out and wanted to win,” said Pavia, the younger sister of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. “We’re always the underdogs. We like being the underdogs.”

AHS (18-4 overall) is 6-0 in league play. Los Lunas (20-5) is 5-2. The Bulldogs need only beat Rio Grande or West Mesa next week to lock up first place alone.

The Bulldogs have been a 9 seed at state each of the last two years, even with a combined 49 victories the last two seasons. They play like a team determined to change the narrative.

“Here’s what the difference is (from today compared to 12 months ago),” AHS coach Teri Morrison said. “All the kids returning, the only difference is a kid named Abby Pavia. It’s not about her points. It’s not about her style. It’s about that grit and leadership.”

Pavia scored a team-best 21 points, and the end of this game had her fingerprints all over it.

With AHS leading by two, 46-44, she was hit with a technical foul for arguing an official’s call. Kayla Finley of the Tigers (20-5, 5-2) drained both free throws with 1:28 remaining to tie the game.

But on the next possession, Pavia had the ball in her hands. She went right at a Los Lunas defender, and pulled up to nail a short jumper with 1:11 to go for a 48-46 edge.

Pavia also buried two free throws with 12.7 seconds showing to seal the win.

“She’s like, forget that moment, move on. That comes from Diego and that whole family of winners,” Morrison said.

The Bulldogs didn’t trail the entire first half. They were up by as many as 12 points (16-4) although the AHS lead was a scant point (26-25) by halftime.

The Tigers took their only lead early in the third quarter, but otherwise they were right on the Bulldogs’ tail the entire second half.

And when Los Lunas caught that tail, Pavia was there.

“At all times, I put in work day in and day out. I don’t think anyone works harder than me,” she said. “So I want the ball in my hands.”

Pavia also spoke about the program’s lack of a blue trophy in girls basketball, although the Bulldogs have been as far as a state final before.

“We want to change that,” she said.

Finley had 22 points to pace Los Lunas. For AHS, Kaelynn Ashley chipped in with 14 points.

Take a look at Albuquerque High girls basketball's win over Los Lunas: Photos