PREP BASKETBALL

Pavia's buzzer-beating 3 gives Albuquerque High 5-5A title

Pavia finishes with career-high 39 points in important road win at Los Lunas

Albuquerque High’s Abby Pavia, center, holds up a heart symbol to the home crowd after hitting the game winning three-point shot to defeat Los Lunas 45 - 42 at Los Lunas High School on Saturday.

Mike Sandoval/For the Journal

James Yodice James Yodice James Yodice Journal Staff Writer

Published February 14, 2026 - 10:00 p.m. Modified February 14, 2026 - 10:07 p.m.

LOS LUNAS – It seems nearly sacrilege to suggest that in a quintessential team sport like basketball, someone could win a game single-handedly.

But that was exactly what happened inside the Los Lunas High School gym on Saturday night.

Albuquerque High freshman guard Abby Pavia, in the game of her young life, set the place on fire, scoring a career-best 39 points. The last of those three? She heaved in a 25-footer at the buzzer as the fourth-ranked Bulldogs stunned the sixth-ranked Tigers 45-42 to lock up the District 5-5A regular-season championship.

After Los Lunas’ Kayla Finley tied the game at 42-all with 15.8 seconds left, the Bulldogs, who were out of timeouts, moved up the floor for the final shot.

Everyone knew it would be Pavia with the ball in her hands, and with the clock melting away, she put it high in the air over a defender’s arms and it swished through as the scoreboard hit 0.0.

“You know, I knew I was gonna take that last shot,” Pavia said with a smile.

Albuquerque High’s Abby Pavia, center, drives the baseline past Los Lunas’ Haylen Johnson, right, and Sienna Flores at Los Lunas High School on Saturday.

It was just about a literal one-person show for AHS (20-3, 6-0 in 5-5A).

“In my 43 years (coaching), this was, to me, one of the best basketball performances at a high school level that I’ve ever seen,” Bulldogs coach Teri Morrison said. “And it looked like the hardest-working game she’s ever had. … Thank God she’s mine.”

Pavia had all 14 of her team’s points in the first half, a half that ended with Los Lunas up 20-14 after Vayda Golino buried a pair of late 3-pointers.

It wasn’t until there was 1:27 left in the third quarter that someone other than Pavia scored for Albuquerque High. That was a single free throw by Lailah Bouldin, who had the Bulldogs’ other six points in this game.

Los Lunas (21-4, 5-2) led 29-27 at the end of three quarters.

The teams traded ties at 32, 34, 36 and 38. Pavia put AHS up 40-38 with 1:05 to go; Finley of the Tigers squared it at 40 with two free throws with 54.7 seconds remaining.

Pavia hit two shots from the stripe with 37.2 seconds showing for a 42-40 AHS lead before Finley equaled the score again with a drive and finish at the rim.

The electrifying victory gives the Bulldogs the 5-5A regular-season title, and this was an eye-popping win for another reason. AHS’ second-best player, forward Savannah Combs, tore her ACL the last time these teams played a couple of weeks ago. And she is finished for the season.

Which meant Pavia had to do even more of the lifting in the rematch. The Los Lunas student section was trying to get in her ears all night. The Tigers tried to defend her as best they could.

To no avail on either front.

“When the student section is loud, I love it,” Pavia said. She said she’d never hit a shot this important that she could immediately remember. “I feel like it makes me play better. If you’re a student section that does not like our team, keep coming to the games.”