Volcano Vista girls hang on for semifinal win over defending champion Hobbs

This current senior class within the Volcano Vista girls basketball program have known nothing but state championship games.

They’ll have one more on Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Hawks played scintillating basketball for the first quarter and a half Thursday afternoon against No. 1 Hobbs, racing out to a 20-point lead. And good thing for them they did, because Volcano Vista lost all of that lead in the second half.

They lost the lead, but crucially, not the game. The Hawks buried seven free throws in the final 2:21 and topped the Eagles 49-42 in the Class 5A semifinals at the Pit.

“I’m very proud, we put in a lot of work for this,” said Volcano Vista senior forward Taejhuan “TT” Hill, who had 15 points and 14 rebounds. “I’m very proud of how we played today.”

Volcano Vista (24-5) faces No. 2 Sandia at 2 p.m. Saturday, as the Hawks play in the final for the fifth straight year. They split two games in the regular season.

First, Volcano had to navigate yet another postseason matchup against Hobbs, the Hawks’ primary postseason nemesis in recent seasons.

“Playing a team like Hobbs is top notch. You have to bring your ‘A’ game, and I think these girls did it today,” Hawks coach Lisa Villareal said.

Hobbs’ amazing run of six straight championship game appearances finally ended.

“I’m so proud of them for fighting back,” Eagles coach Joe Carpenter said. “It wasn’t meant to be this year.”

The Eagles and Hawks had met in the previous four state finals, and have combined for some memorable postseason theater on Bob King Court. Hobbs beat Volcano Vista last March.

“This was really personal to us,” Hill said. “Last year we fell short, so we just used that to fuel our fire.”

They rivals created more magic Thursday, even if it was slow developing.

Junior Mila Espinoza buried three first-half 3-pointers, all of them from the same spot on the floor, right in front of the Hobbs bench, to spark Volcano Vista.

“It’s always important for us to hit early, and I think we did an excellent job of doing that the first quarter,” said Espinoza, who finished with 13 points. “We were all ready for this game, (and) that first quarter set us off on a good game.”

And the Hawks dominated on the offensive glass, creating a 12-1 edge in second-chance points in the first half.

“I’ve always told the girls that offense sells tickets, defense wins games and rebounds are what win championships,” said Villareal, who has guided the Hawks to five blue trophies.

So with Hill and others doing work on the glass, Hobbs, which was already shorthanded, faced a complicated comeback road.

“When TT is going, our 3s get going, and when our 3s get going, TT gets going,” Villareal said. “They feed off each other.”

The rebound advantage was pronounced. Volcano Vista had 40 rebounds, and exactly half were of the offensive variety.

As for the Eagles (26-4), point guard Brynn Hargrove was unavailable after getting two technical fouls on Tuesday in the quarterfinals against La Cueva.

“It killed us,” Carpenter said. “It killed our flow in what we do.”

Said Villareal: “They missed her.”

However, Hobbs overcame and slowly chipped its way back to even. There were three straight 3s, from Nakia Mojica, Bhret Clay and Matysen Zepeda that got the deficit down to four (37-33) near the end of the third quarter.

And eventually, Hobbs tied the game at 42 after Zepeda stole the ball at midcourt and went in for a layup. That was with 2:36 to go. The Eagles didn’t score again.

The Hawks, especially Hill, were solid from the stripe in putting the game away.

“For our girls to keep their composure … to pull it off is a tribute to these girls,” Villareal said.

When these teams met in Hobbs at the very end of 2023, the Eagles won by 28 points.

“I think we play better at the Pit than any other place,” Villareal said with a smile.

No. 4 VOLCANO VISTA 49, No. 1 HOBBS 42

VOLCANO VISTA (24-5): Lilliana Duncan 10, Adriana Zavala 5, Mila Espinoza 13, TT Hill 15, Jalysa Hines 6. Totals 17-51 10-14 49.

HOBBS (26-4): Aliana Armitage 2, Bhret Clay 7, Nakia Mojica 9, Kyndle Cunningham 9, Jayla David 4, Carolina Saiz 3, Matysen Zepeda 8. Totals 16-44 3-4 42.

Volcano Vista 19 14 6 10 – 49

Hobbs 6 16 11 9 – 42

3-point goals: VV 5-17 (Espinoza 3, Hines 2); H 7-18 (Mojica 3, Zepeda 2, Saiz, Clay). Rebounds: VV 40 (Hill 14); H 26 (Cunningham 7). Assists: VV 11 (Hill, Hines 3); H 12 (Mojica 5). Total fouls: VV 10; H 13.

Photos: Volcano Vista upsets Hobbs in the girls Class 5A semifinals