For Class 5A, The Song Remains The Same

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 1976, legendary rock band Led Zeppelin released their famous full-length concert film, ‘The Song Remains The Same.'</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fifty years later, we could probably say the same thing about Class 5A basketball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Proving the skeptics wrong, Volcano Vista put the finishing touches on another brilliant season with an impressive 66-52 victory over No. 2 seed Cleveland in the 5A state championship game at The Pit.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hawks have now won five consecutive Class 5A state championships dating back to 2022. Over that span, Volcano Vista has won a staggering 143 of 152 games. Yes, they've lost just nine games in the past five seasons, an average of less than two L's per campaign. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hawks dominated on both ends of the court, holding the Storm to 36.5 percent shooting and a season low in points on the defensive end while shooting lights out on the offensive end. In the second half, Volcano Vista made 12-of-14 shots for an astounding 85.7 shooting percentage. They finished the game shooting 63.2 percent (24-38) from the field.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Volcano Vista led wire-to-wire on Saturday. They jumped out to an early lead and never let up. Cleveland NEVER led, possibly for the first time all season. There were zero lead changes and the score was never tied. The Hawks led, 19-12, after the first quarter before holding the Storm to just six points in the second quarter on 3-of-11 shooting for a 32-18 halftime lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At that point, all Volcano Vista had to do was hold serve in the second half and that's exactly what happened. Each team scored 34 points in the final 16 minutes but Cleveland never seriously threatened.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When three-time Gatorade Player of the Year Kenyon Aguino graduated last May, some folks believed (hoped?) Volcano Vista would take a step back in 2025-26. Never happened. Six-foot-4 junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2111977' first='David' last='Lunn']</strong>, arguably the state's best player and the heavy favorite to take home this season's Gatorade Player of the Year honors, took his game to the next level. In Saturday's title game, he scored 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six-foot-5 senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2402807' first='Eli' last='Covell']</strong>, described by his head coach in Saturday's post-game press conference as a ‘double-double machine' filled in admirably for Aguino, while guys like <strong>Spirit Penn-Cook</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2714701' first='Houston' last='Brown']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2743220' first='Finley' last='Fitak']</strong> and <strong>Luis Gonzales</strong> played their roles perfectly.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saturday, Covell had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out a team-high 3 assists for yet another double-double.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Will Volcano Vista finally take that step back in 2026-27? Unlikely. The dynamic Lunn, fearless in powering to the basket, returns for his senior season, along with two other players who saw significant playing time on Saturday night – Brown and Gonzales (an excellent 3-point shooter). Promising 6-foot-4 freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2966846' first='Jackson' last='Mangrum']</strong> will likely have a much bigger role next season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In the Game Highlights presented by <a href="https://twitter.com/NMPED?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NMPED</a> ! The @hawks.basketball [player_tooltip player_id='2111977' first='David' last='Lunn'] with DUNK! Volcano up at Halftime 32-18! <a href="https://twitter.com/VVHSHawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VVHSHawks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/high_vista?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@high_vista</a> <a href="https://t.co/hMEUyeHTTi">pic.twitter.com/hMEUyeHTTi</a></p>&mdash; Sports Primo (@sportsprimo2) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsprimo2/status/2033008663594754178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>    </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->