New Mexico State Championships: Top Performers

<p style="text-align: left;">The New Mexico High School Basketball State Tournament came to its conclusion this past Friday and Saturday for the championship games in the 1A-5A classes. We crowned 5 state champions and saw several great performances be put on display during championship weekend.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>1A Boys State Championship</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: left;">#1 Magdalena defeated #2 Elida 71-55 to win back to back state championships for the second consecutive season in a row. This game was played Saturday March 12th at the Pit, at 6:00 pm. They were led by their star duo [player_tooltip player_id="1076693" first="Joren" last="Mirabal"] and <strong>D’Shaun Vinyard</strong>. They combined for 51 points in the state championship game. <strong>D’Shaun</strong> scored a game high 30 points and recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds. Joren scored 21 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished 4 assists and shot 5/5 from the free throw line. </p> <p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>2A Boys State Championship</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: left;">#5 Menaul defeated #2  Pecos 70-63 in the 2A Boys state championship. This game was played Saturday March 12th at the Pit, at 8:00 am. Menaul was led by their star big man, <strong>Maximus Mkpa</strong>. He recorded a monster double-double scoring 19 points on just 3/4 shooting but made it to the free throw line 18 times and making 13 of them. He grabbed a game high 23 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. Pecos was led by <strong>Isaiah Sandoval</strong> who scored a team high 17 points on 7/13 shooting from the field, he grabbed 8 rebounds off the glass and had a solid performance despite the championship loss. </p> <p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>3A Boys State Championship</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: left;">#2 Robertson defeated #4 St. Michaels 65-56 to win the 3A Boys state championship.  This game was played Saturday March 12th at the Pit, at 8:00 am. Robertson was led by <strong>Matthew Gonzales</strong> who scored a game high 26 points, shot 11/13 from the free throw line and grabbed 6 rebounds in the teams state championship victory. <strong>Mateo Contreras</strong> was the teams second leading scorer with 19 points, shot 8/14 from the field and 2/3 from three-point range. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>4A Boys State Championship</strong></span></p> <p>#1 Highland defeated #11 Del Norte in the 4A Boys state championship. This game was played Saturday March 12th at the Pit, at noon. Highland was led by star big man [player_tooltip player_id="1076677" first="Jose" last="Murillo"] who arguably had the best championship performance this weekend. He had a monster double-double scoring 40 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. He shot 16/24 from the field which was 67% from the floor, shot 8/11 from the free throw line and 7 of his 20 rebounds were offensive rebounds. He also blocked 3 shots around the basket. Despite the loss, [player_tooltip player_id="1076702" first="Shane" last="Douma-Sanchez"] had a team high 36 points, shot 11/13 from the free throw line and gave it everything he had. The 2021 state champion helped push Del Norte to a comeback in the second half but came up short. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>5A Boys State Championship</strong></span></p> <p>#2 Volcano Vista defeated #1 Las Cruces in the 5A Boys state championship. This game was played Saturday March 12th at the Pit, at 8:00 pm. Both teams came into this game undefeated and the top 2 seeds in the 5A tournament. Volcano Vista had three players score in double figures. Volcano Vista was led by [player_tooltip player_id="1076675" first="Jakwon" last="Hill"] who scored a team high 17 points, had 7 rebounds and shot 9/10 from the free throw line. He also hit two clutch free throws to force overtime late in the 4th quarter. Big man [player_tooltip player_id="1124213" first="Sean" last="Alter"] scored 15 points and was the teams second leading scorer and held his own against star big man [player_tooltip player_id="1076667" first="Isaiah" last="Carr"]. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="1176300" first="Kenyon" last="Aguino"] was the teams X-Factor in the game. He came in right off the bench and scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds on 5/9 shooting from the field and made 3/4 three pointers. </p>