Prep basketball: Volcano boys, AHS girls open strong

While the Volcano Vista boys begin a transition season of sorts that will surely include some questions it will have to answer, one thing the Hawks haven’t lost is their taste for suffocating defense.

The four-time Class 5A defending state basketball champions officially opened defense of their 2024-25 title on Tuesday night, and while this offense will be a work in progress for a while, the Volcano Vista defense stifled Albuquerque High in a 54-41 victory at Bulldog City.

“We knew we had to rely on our defense tonight,” Hawks coach Greg Brown said. “I thought we defended well, and that was encouraging to see. Because that was our question mark, can we play defense. We took a big step defensively.”

Spirit Penn-Cook, a 6-foot-2 senior, was the standout at both ends of the floor for the Hawks as the 2025-26 season tipped off for many teams Tuesday around the metro area.

He scored a team-best 15 points, most of it in the first half, and his defense in the second part of the game on Albuquerque forward Ethan Oetzel, who burned the Hawks early, proved crucial.

“Doing what I do best. Play defense,” Penn-Cook said.

“It was a team effort to stop him,” Brown said, “but Spirit took on that challenge and did a tremendous job on him. … Spirit is capable of playing that kind of basketball at both ends, and he’s one of our big pieces this year.”

The Hawks swarmed Albuquerque High throughout.

“We may not have the pieces that we used to, but the culture in our program has stayed strong and that’s what we’re trying to believe in at all times,” Penn-Cook said.

Albuquerque High only led once in this game, 6-5, after back-to-back 3-pointers from Oetzel.

The Bulldogs were close on Volcano’s heels, although a late surge in the second quarter put the Hawks up nine (33-24) at halftime.

The Bulldogs scored nine of the first 11 points over the first six minutes of the third quarter to climb within two at 35-33, but that was as close as they got.

There was a big 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter when David Lunn kicked it into the corner, where Houston Brown connected on a 3 for a 43-34 lead.

Lunn, Volcano Vista’s top returner and one of 5A’s top five players, spent a good chunk of the game on the bench. He only had two points through three quarters. But he did come alive for a spell in the final quarter and finished with 10 points. He had eight points down the stretch including one of his trademark two-handed dunks.

In the early game Tuesday, Albuquerque High’s girls, who are considered by most to be one of 5A’s special teams, pulled away in the second half from Volcano Vista in a 64-42 victory.

It was the last five minutes of the third quarter where the Bulldogs got separation.

The Hawks trailed 30-18 at halftime, but hit on two early 3s as part of an 8-0 run, and the deficit was down to four at 30-26.

AHS outscored Volcano 18-2 the rest of the third quarter.

Maliyah Lee and Lailah Bouldin connected on 3s of their own for the Bulldogs for a 36-26 lead and the lead never slipped into single digits the rest of the way.

The AHS defense turned the Hawks over seven times in the final five minutes of that third quarter, frequently turning that into points.

“We got our steals, and defense creates 3s,” Bulldogs coach Teri Morrison said, adding, “Big players stepped up at big times.”

Freshman guard Abby Pavia had a team-best 18 points for AHS.

“You know, we play for each other,” she said. “Our expectations are high. We’re trying to win state this year and we’re trying to make history.”