No. 1 Volcano Vista storms back to beat No. 2 Sandia

It was, in all honesty, a little weird seeing the Volcano Vista Hawks like this.

A step behind. Unusually sloppy. Shooting poorly. Being outplayed and not looking terribly worked up about it. This was not the basketball that created three consecutive boys Class 5A state basketball championships.

The post-intermission Hawks were a different, more recognizable, story.

The state’s top-ranked team found itself in a 16-point hole in the first half to visiting Sandia, but led by the always formidable Kenyon Aguino, the Hawks surged after halftime, and eventually beat No. 2 Sandia 68-59 before a packed house at Volcano Vista on Friday night.

“Listen,” Hawks coach Greg Brown said. “We needed this to happen. This has to refocus us.”

It was almost fitting that with exam week on the horizon for students, Volcano Vista (4-0) be presented a stern test.

And this most definitely was that. And ultimately, the Hawks passed.

“Every single year we need one like this, to keep us humble and keep us on the right track,” said Volcano Vista senior forward Kenyon Aguino, who scored 22 of his game-high 29 points after halftime.

Sandia is a team many people believe is the best equipped to topple the Hawks’ dynasty this season, and there was no reason to argue that point in a terrific first half by the Matadors.

Sandia (5-1) had an early 10-0 run to take control, keyed by two 3-pointers from freshman Isaiah Brown.

Another ninth-grader for the Matadors, Gad Harris, along with Brown and senior Thomas Adams, led the charge in the first half.

Sandia stunningly led 29-13 with just over two minutes to go before halftime. The Hawks were down 30-18 at halftime.

“I was concerned about our ability to play a complete game with effort,” coach Brown said. “And tonight, because we didn’t do that, and because we played Sandia, we were exposed.”

But Volcano Vista most definitely made a course correction during halftime — when Brown admitted, “We were pretty surprised. I saw some kids in the locker room that were a little bit shell-shocked.”

Hawks sophomore forward David Lunn admitted he was one of them.

Lunn also was part of the second-half charge by Volcano Vista, doing good offensive work around the rim, including two one-handed dunks that got the Hawk fans out of their seats.

“I just think it was our (lack of) energy in the first half,” Lunn said. “We needed to pick up full court and just play tougher.”

Which was precisely what happened.

Volcano Vista had the first five points in the third quarter, including a three-point play by Aguino. A 3-pointer by Rian Gonzales and a second three-point play from Aguino, whose 6-foot-8 frame and low-post skills were problematic for Sandia, cut the deficit to five at 34-29 about midway through the quarter.

An offensive rebound and putback by Aguino late in the quarter made it 40-39 for Sandia, which is what it was entering the fourth quarter.

Down 47-46, Lunn hit a free throw to tie the game with 5:03 to go. He missed the second; Aguino rebounded and put it back for a 49-47 lead, the Hawks’ first lead since they scored the first five points of the game.

Buckets by Aguino and Gonzales stretched the lead to 53-47, and no matter how many timeouts Sandia coach Danny Brown, Greg’s brother, burned up, he could not get the Matadors back on track.

The game was more or less cemented with two sequences. Aguino hit a free throw, missed the second, but Lunn rebounded for a putback and a 56-49 lead with 2:26 remaining. Moments later, Aguino made a free throw, and had a short basket for a 59-51 lead with 2:09 to go.

The challenge and threat from Sandia had been fully answered. Lunn stamped things with a ferocious one-handed dunk in the final moments.

“This is gonna be good for us,” Greg Brown said. “It’s gonna motivate us to get better.”

“We needed it,” Lunn added. “It helps us know what we need to work on.”

Aguino said Volcano Vista simply got tougher.

“That was the biggest thing,” he said of the difference in the first half. “They just grinded it out more than us. They wanted it more than us in the first half. We were way tougher in the second half. That was the biggest difference.”

Take a look as Volcano Vista hosts Sandia