How It Happened: Class 3A and 2A Semifinals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 3A and 2A Semifinals – Friday (The Pit In Albuquerque, NM)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 3A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. Michael's 68, Bosque 38&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Standout Players</strong>: As always, St. Michael's features one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the state. FIVE players scored 10 or 11 points against Bosque, led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2706580' first='Ryan' last='Hunt']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2827261' first='Dillan' last='McCoy']</strong> with 11 apiece. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Stats</strong>: St. Michael's plays ferocious full-court defense and Bosque struggled to get good looks at the basket all game long. Bosque shot just 27.5 percent (11-40) from the field and committed 20 turnovers. The Horsemen limited Bosque star [player_tooltip player_id='2309741' first='Josiah' last='Wilson'] to 9 points and two field goals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>How It Happened</strong>: St. Michael's jumped out to a 23-8 lead after the 1^st quarter and was never seriously threatened thereafter. They won every quarter, led 38-21 at halftime and 53-31 after three quarters. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">St. Michael's head coach Dakota Montoya talks about their semifinal win at the 2025 Nusenda Credit Union State Basketball Championships. <a href="https://twitter.com/nusendacu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nusendacu</a> <a href="https://t.co/1Vl4zkfWwe">pic.twitter.com/1Vl4zkfWwe</a></p>&mdash; NMAA (@_NMAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1900597864528810458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Robertson 64, Santa Fe Indian 35</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Standout Players</strong>: Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2818687' first='Jesse' last='James Gonzales']</strong> and freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2714561' first='George' last='Smith']</strong> scored 14 points each to lead Robertson's attack while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1695665' first='Nathaniel' last='Gonzales']</strong> had 13. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2216707' first='Nathan' last='Gonzales']</strong> fell inches short of a double-double, scoring 9 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Dontry Callado led SFIS with 12 points.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Stats</strong>: Robertson won this game by dominating the two middle periods. In the second and third quarters, the Cardinals connected on 13-of-22 shots (59.0 percent) while holding SFIS to 2-of-19 (10.5 pct.), including 0-of-9 in the third quarter. Robertson outscored SFIS, 37-11, in the second and third quarters to seize control. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>How it Happened</strong>: Santa Fe Indian came out of the gates strong, grabbing an early 9-2. After that , though, Robertson dominated the remainder of the firsts half. Over the final 11 minutes or so, Robertson outscored SFIS, 30-8, to take a 32-17 halftime lead. The Cardinals outscored the Braves, 21-4, in the second quarter, shooting 77.8 pct. (7-9) in the process.&nbsp; Both teams came out sluggishly on offense in the third quarter, combining to score just 4 points in the first 4 minutes of the second half. Robertson, though, soon shifted into high gear, scoring 13 points to take a 48-24 lead into the final quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='2714561' first='George' last='Smith']'s corner jumper gave Robertson a 38-18 lead with less than 3 minutes left in the third quarter.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Robertson head coach Adam Bustos talks about their semifinal win at the 2025 Nusenda Credit Union State Basketball Championships. <a href="https://twitter.com/nusendacu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nusendacu</a> <a href="https://t.co/H9TDjB8m3h">pic.twitter.com/H9TDjB8m3h</a></p>&mdash; NMAA (@_NMAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1900648836944851347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 2A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Texico 55, Pecos 43</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Standout Players: </strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2833696' first='Jett' last='Curtis'] led Texico with 15 points while [player_tooltip player_id='2818730' first='Steen' last='North'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2827188' first='Bennett' last='Wahlen'] (QB on Texico's 2A state championship football team) added 12 and 10 points, respectively. [player_tooltip player_id='2827274' first='Kevin' last='Vigil'] had 15 points for Pecos. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Stats: </strong>Texico led by just 4 points (35-31) after three quarters but won the fourth quarter by making 7-of-12 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers. Texico scored 34 of their 55 points in the paint. Peco failed to take advantage of forcing 17 Texico turnovers, scoring just 8 points off them. Texico made up for their high number of turnovers with 21 offensive rebounds (vs. 12 DR for Pecos) on the way to dominating the rebounding battle (42-19). &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>How It Happened: </strong>Texico led, 17-12 after the 1^st quarter but both teams struggled to score over the next two periods, combining for just 37 points. The outcome was still in doubt going into the fourth quarter but Texico showed why they were the #1 seed for the 2A tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Texico head coach Craig Cook talks about their semifinal win at the 2025 Nusenda Credit Union State Basketball Championships. <a href="https://twitter.com/nusendacu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nusendacu</a> <a href="https://t.co/gJ0likqcqk">pic.twitter.com/gJ0likqcqk</a></p>&mdash; NMAA (@_NMAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1900569076789055901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mesa Vista 58, Santa Rosa 51</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Standout Players</strong>: Mesa Vista is not a deep team but the five players they put on the floor are pretty good. The quartet of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2827164' first='Santiago' last='Martinez']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2833706' first='Ezequiel' last='Nevarez']</strong>, <strong>Andres Valdez</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1533973' first='Jordan' last='Gallegos']</strong> all played 31+ minutes. They combined for 51 points and 24 rebounds. Gallegos came THIS close to a triple-double, scoring 13 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists. [player_tooltip player_id='2827268' first='Daryn' last='Pacheco'] led sanat Rosa with 13 ppoints. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Stats</strong>: It was a turnover-filled game as both teams combined for 44 turnovers. Santa Rosa forced 25 turnovers by Mesa Vista. However, the Lions converted those miscues into just 19 points Santa Rosa was also just 3-of-22 from 3-point range compared to 4-of-8 for Mesa Vista. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>How It Happened</strong>: Santa Rosa started well but Mesa Vista started to take control of the game in the middle stages of the first quarter, eventually leading 16-8 after the first quarter. Santa Rosa never led again.  Mesa Vista built a 28-19 halftime lead . Santa Rosa cut the deficit to 6 by the end of the third quarter but Mesa Vista withstood the charge and held off the Lions in the final quarter by making 6-of-7 shots.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mesa Vista head coach Thomas Vigil talks about their semifinal win at the 2025 Nusenda Credit Union State Basketball Championships. <a href="https://twitter.com/nusendacu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nusendacu</a> <a href="https://t.co/BsZ928tI9w">pic.twitter.com/BsZ928tI9w</a></p>&mdash; NMAA (@_NMAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1900624485973479466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->