Basketball district championships: First day of March delivers on the madness

The first day of March delivered an abundance of madness on New Mexico’s prep basketball scene.

As district tournaments concluded in both genders, Saturday was a reminder of how much volatility late-season hoops can deliver.

Albuquerque High was a top seed in the District 5-5A boys basketball tournament, for example. The Bulldogs were beaten at home Saturday by Atrisco Heritage, and by double digits.

The Albuquerque Academy boys were a top seed in 6-4A, but the Chargers were knocked off at home by Valley.

And, most notably, the Gallup girls went on the road and beat No. 1 Kirtland Central 73-69 in overtime in the District 1-4A tournament championship game, raising the stakes considerably in that rivalry after the Broncos won both regular season meetings handily against the Bengals.

And so now, the 300-plus boys and girls basketball teams that started this prep basketball season will be officially whittled to the final 160 this weekend.

The final 80 boys teams and the final 80 girls teams will learn their bracket seeds and positions on Sunday as the New Mexico Activities Association announces the playoff fields in each of the 10 divisions at about 5 p.m.

The state tournament is officially upon us.

A slew of district tournament finals played out across the state on Saturday, a large number of them in the Albuquerque metro area.

The state’s No. 1-ranked boys team, Volcano Vista, capped another undefeated season — against New Mexico competition, that is — with an 83-60 victory over Cleveland on Saturday night in the District 1-5A championship game.

David Lunn had 26 points for the Hawks (25-2). Kenyon Aguino added 25 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists as Volcano Vista whipped the Storm (18-10) for the third time in the last month.

Sandia’s boys and girls swept the 2-5A tournament titles at home on Saturday.

The boys (24-3), ranked No. 2 behind Volcano Vista, scored a tough 52-43 victory over La Cueva (18-10).

Guard Zaire Ndyabagye had 16 points, freshman guard Isaiah Brown 10 for the Matadors, as both teams battled lots of foul trouble to key players.

Ndyabagye had several key buckets in the fourth quarter after the score was tied at 37 with 6½ minutes remaining. A dunk off a turnover made it 41-37, a tough shot off the glass with a defender in his face made it 43-39, and a layup with 1:17 to go gave Sandia a 48-43 lead.

“I think we sped them up a little bit, we were able to turn them over a little bit, and that was kind of the key,” Sandia coach Danny Brown said. “When they get comfortable, (La Cueva) is pretty good.”

The Sandia girls, also ranked No. 2 in 5A (behind only Hobbs), scored the first 20 points of the game against rival La Cueva, and this game was anticlimactic for nearly every one of the 32 minutes as the Matadors (26-1) blitzed the sixth-ranked Bears 59-34.

“The first time we played them here we opened up 16-2,” Sandia coach Lee Kettig said. “When we play La Cueva, regardless of how the game is supposed to go, they’re always gonna have our attention. … (Our team’s) focus and energy didn’t surprise me.”

Senior guard Sydney Benally’s 15 points all were scored in the decisive first half. Audri Wright added 11 points. Benally was later named the 2-5A player of the year.

For La Cueva (20-7), junior Jordyn Dyer finished with 19 points.

“La Cueva is at least a top-eight seed,”: Kettig said, “and has one of THE best players in the state, and we handled them very, very well.”

Albuquerque High had mixed results as the Bulldogs hosted a pair of District 5-5A tournament title games on Saturday afternoon.

The girls downed Los Lunas 43-31 as AHS (21-5), the regular-season champion, posted its third victory over the Tigers (23-6) this year. Junior guard Lailah Bouldin buried five 3-pointers for the Bulldogs and finished with a team-best 18 points. Abby Pavia had 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

The Atrisco Heritage boys (19-10), finally at full strength, captured first place in the 5-5A tournament, defeating Albuquerque High 55-43 after losing twice — by 17 and 21 points — to the Bulldogs (21-6) during league play. AHS had the first six, but it was the Jaguars who finally solved the Bulldogs.

“What matters is, we’re finally fully healthy for the first time all year,” Atrisco Heritage coach Steve Heredia said. “And we’re gonna be ready for whoever we play (next week at state).”

Senior guard Latavious Morris had a team-best 30 points Saturday to lead the Jaguars, and that put him over 2,000 points (2,001 to be precise after Saturday) for his outstanding career.

The Academy boys (19-8), ranked fourth in 4A and the top seed in 6-4A, lost 40-38 to Valley. Angelito Villa had 13 points to lead the seventh-ranked Vikings (14-14). Academy had swept Valley in the regular season.

The Academy girls (23-4) won the 6-4A tournament on Saturday afternoon, 57-52 over visiting Hope Christian (17-12). Addie Spratley scored 21 points to lead the Chargers. Olivia Hammond chipped in with 11 points.

At St. Pius, Valencia’s girls beat St. Pius 39-34 to claim the District 5-4A tournament crown.

Also Saturday, Organ Mountain’s boys (over Las Cruces), Hobbs’ boys (over Roswell), Legacy Academy’s boys (over Menaul) and Robertson’s boys (on the road against St. Michael’s) won district tournament titles.

Cuba’s girls defeated Sandia Prep in the 5-3A final.