Girls metro: Out-of-towners take over tournament

Hobbs’ Aliana Armitage drives to the basket past Rio Rancho’s Lilly Martinez during a girls metro basketball tournament semifinal on Friday at Sandia High School. Hobbs beat Rio Rancho 66-30.

Hobbs’ Brynn Hargrove goes up for a shot over Rio Rancho’s Lilly Martinez during a girls metro basketball semifinal on Friday at Sandia High School.

Hobbs’ Larissa Martinez drives to the basket during a girls metro basketball semifinal against Rio Rancho on Friday at Rio Rancho High School.

James Yodice James Yodice James Yodice Journal Staff Writer

Published January 10, 2025 - 10:00 p.m. Modified January 10, 2025 - 10:46 p.m.

We’ll just go ahead and call this the out-of-towners edition of the Albuquerque Metro Basketball Championships.

For the girls, anyway.

Hobbs and Kirtland Central were the only two schools outside the metro area who were invited to play this week, so technically they’re not party crashers, and these are the teams that reached the championship game.

At Sandia on Friday night, the Broncos handed Sandia its first loss in a thriller, and the Eagles outclassed Rio Rancho in the late game.

At 4 p.m. Saturday at La Cueva, it’ll be a super intriguing battle of the 2s: Hobbs (15-1), the second-ranked team in Class 5A, and Kirtland Central (12-1), the second-ranked team in 4A.

KIRTLAND CENTRAL 61, SANDIA 58: This proved to be a terrific matchup; at the end, it was the Broncos who made most of the key plays as they beat the Matadors (13-1) on Sandia’s home floor.

“We didn’t know we were gonna get this far, but we’re this far,” freshman Allyson Tsosie said. “We deserve it.”

Tsosie made five out of six free throws in the final 34.2 seconds, starting with two that put Kirtland Central ahead 58-57. That was the last of the 13 lead changes in this entertaining showdown.

The Broncos, leading 44-43, went on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter, getting two 3-pointers from Haylee Nocki, and they led 54-43 with four minutes left. But Sandia surged. Sisters Kaiyah and Sydney Benally hit back-to-back 3s, and with just under two minutes left, the Matadors were down just three at 56-53.

During this same stretch, Kirtland Central was being turned over several times. Eventually, Kaiyah Benally hit an 8-foot jumper in the lane with 42 seconds to go for a 57-56 lead for Sandia.

After Tsosie’s free throws for a 1-point Broncos lead, Sydney Benally had three close-range (albeit contested) shots that all missed.

“Must have just been our night for those shots not to go in for her,” Kirtland Central coach Devon Manning said. “Overall, just a great win for the program.”

And then Tsosie hit the clinching free throws in the final seconds, including two with 7.6 seconds left for the final margin. Sandia never got off a final shot.

“You know Sandia is gonna make a run. They’re not gonna submit,” Manning said. “But the girls persevered through that and we knocked down free throws at the end and we did what we needed to do.”

Tsosie led the Broncos with 17 points. Nocki was next with 14. The Benally sisters combined for 33 points, with Sydney scoring 17.

Matadors coach Lee Kettig was clearly displeased.

“When we choose to play defense and we’re working together, we’re very good,” he said. “When we choose to not play defense and slack off and not play together, it looks very ugly.”

Sandia will face Rio Rancho for third place on Saturday.

“We needed a loss,” Ketting said. “We need to get our heads back in place.”

HOBBS 66, RIO RANCHO 30: The Rams (10-3) are a young and promising team that has steadily, and stealthily, been climbing the rankings in 5A, but this game demonstrated that there is a considerable gap between No. 2, Hobbs, and Rio Rancho, which came into metros ranked No. 3 in the state by the coaches.

The Eagles overcame a slow start, and foul trouble to a couple of starters, to cruise into Saturday’s final.

“We were probably in a situation where we played a lot of kids more than we usually do, but that’s OK,” Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter said. “We play everybody, we just played them a little earlier, and I think we wore them down.”

Hobbs led from start to finish, beginning with a quick 3-pointer by Nakia Mojica.

But Rio Rancho hung around, and the Rams, after consecutive buckets by Jayme Archuleta early in the second quarter, were down just three at 13-10.

But the Eagles scored the game’s next 13 points, capped by a 3 from Mojica, and the Hobbs lead never dipped again below double digits.

Mojica had four 3s and led Hobbs with 20 points. Bhret Clay, one of two starters who was hindered by fouls through a good chunk of the game, added 14 points.