March Madness: Class 5A and 4A Quarterfinals Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've reached the quarterfinal round of the state basketball tournament. Here is a preview of all eight quarterfinal matchups in Class 5A and 4A. All 8 games will be played on Wednesday, March 12 at the Pit in Albuquerque. The first game will tip off at 8 a.m. and the action will continue all day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 5A&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>La Cueva (8) vs. Volcano Vista (1), 8:15 p.m.: </strong>Top-seeded Volcano Vista continued to carve a path of destruction through Class 5A in the first round as they trounced West Mesa, 75-40. The Hawks have won their last 14 games by at least 22 points. The last time they played a close game was against Sandia in the Albuquerque Metro Tourney on Jan. 11 when they won by 4 points. The dynamic duo of senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1176300' first='Kenyon' last='Aguino']</strong> and sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2111977' first='David' last='Lunn']</strong> have proven unstoppable all season long. La Cueva, which has exceeded everybody's expectations, counters with junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2694526' first='Hunter' last='Butler'] </strong>(scored 7 of 14 points in 4^th quarter vs. Cibola in 1^st round), senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2684208' first='Tre' last='Cowles']</strong> and others. These two teams squared off in early December with Volcano Vista winning by 21 points. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Farmington (12) vs. Roswell (4), 9:45 a.m.: </strong>Farmington pulled off THE upset in 5A in the first round as the Scorpions made the long journey to Las Cruces and upended Organ Mountain on the Knights home court. Clearly, the District 5A-1 wars prepared Farmington for that game and they weren't intimidated. The ‘Big 3' of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1913769' first='Mikey' last='Beck']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1914028' first='Landon' last='Begay']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717217' first='Sataurus' last='Griego']</strong> combined for 41 points in the upset win. Roswell handled business against southeast NM rival Carlsbad in the opening round with a 58-49 win. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Albuquerque High (6) vs. Sandia (3), 1:15 p.m.: </strong>Sandia is a fun team to watch with their fast-paced style and emphasis on shooting the 3. Everybody has the green light to shoot from beyond the arc. When the shots are falling for the Matadors, success always follows. Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2292960' first='Zaire' last='Ndyabagye']</strong> (10-12 FG) and freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2714567' first='Isaiah' last='Brown']</strong> combined for 40 points and five 3-pointers in their 71-53 first-round win over Rio Rancho. Albuquerque High walloped Santa Fe, 72-49 in the first round at AHS with junior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2827330' first='Ethan' last='Oetzel']</strong> leading the way with 24 points while <strong>Ali Mireles</strong> adding 14. This should be a highly competitive game. They met on Jan. 15 with Sandia winning 66-49. &nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cleveland (7) vs. Hobbs (2), 4:45 p.m.: </strong>Cleveland's first-round win over Atrisco Heritage was billed as a confrontation between two of the top guards in the state – the Storm's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1326930' first='Remy' last='Albrecht']</strong> and Atrisco's [player_tooltip player_id='1176301' first='Latavious' last='Morris']. The same could be said for this game with Albrecht now going up against Hobbs G <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1687828' first='Abraham' last='Pena']</strong>, who scored 21 points in the Eagles' first-round win over Las Cruces and has effectively been their leader all season long. Albrecht scored 25 points in the win over Atrisco but sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2832983' first='Brycen' last='Bowie']</strong> stole the show with 8 3-pointers, several in the fourth quarter when the Storm staved off the Jaguars.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2807598,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-10-at-17-51-47-3-fhsscorpionsbbb-@fhsscorpionsbbb-_-X.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-10-at-17-51-47-3-fhsscorpionsbbb-@fhsscorpionsbbb-_-X.png?w=545" alt="" class="wp-image-2807598" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 4A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Highland (8) vs. St. Pius X (1), 11:30 a.m</strong>.: Both teams posted workmanlike victories in the first round with top-seeded St. Pius X beating Goddard (50-34) and Highland downing Del Norte (53-32). This will be the fourth meeting between these two rivals this season, so there are no secrets. St. Pius X is 3-0 in the first three games, but all have been hard-fought affairs. The last time they met, St. Pius X won in OT in the district tournament title game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2684214' first='Mason' last='Montoya']</strong> scored 18 points in the Sartans' 1^st round win while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2693635' first='Juan' last='Limas']</strong> led Highland with 14 against Del Norte. Six-foot-8 sophomore forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2402829' first='Jerry' last='Moody']</strong> had 12 points and wowed the crowd with a pair of fourth quarter dunks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Taos (12) at Albuquerque Academy (4), 8 a.m.: </strong>An early-morning affair on Wednesday.Taos pulled off the 12-5 upset in the first round as they made the trip over to Pojoaque Valley and upended the Elks, 61-57. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2300007' first='Malakhai' last='Ely']</strong> scored 20 points to lead the Tigers while <strong>Robert Trujillo </strong>had three 3-pointers. Academy is led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2818784' first='Eli' last='Dominguez']</strong>, who scored 23 points in the first-round win over Grants, and 6-foot-10 junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717250' first='Hunter' last='Aime']</strong>. The early tip-off time makes this game even more intriguing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Silver (6) vs. Espanola Valley (3), 6:30 p.m.: </strong>Espanola Valley got all it wanted and more from Belen in the first-round before pulling out a 54-50 win over the Eagles in the self-proclaimed Lowrider Capital of the World. Silver might be the quietest No. 6 seed in the state tournament. But the Colts carry a 7-game winning streak into Wednesday's early evening showdown after beating Hope Christian, 82-72, in Silver City.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Valley (7) vs. Artesia (2), 3 p.m.: </strong>These two teams met shortly before Christmas in Albuquerque with the Vikings pulling out a 50-46 win. Artesia, though, bounced back strongly and went on to earn the No. 2 seed for the 4A tournament. The most surprising thing about the Bulldogs' first-round win over Gallup was that neither <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1846065' first='Charlie' last='Campbell']</strong> or <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717327' first='Braylon' last='Vega']</strong> led Artesia in scoring. Instead, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2146038' first='Clay' last='Kincaid']</strong> scored a team-high 21 points. The Bulldogs have the depth to play for the 4A title on Saturday. First, they'll have to get past a pesky Valley team that edged Lovington, 52-48, in the 1^st round. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2677085' first='Angelito' last='Villa'] </strong>led Valley with 15 points while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1695659' first='Luciano' last='Mondragon']</strong> had 13. Both will need to have good games again for Valley to upset Artesia. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2807595,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-10-at-17-48-38-3-Home-_-X.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-10-at-17-48-38-3-Home-_-X.png?w=507" alt="" class="wp-image-2807595" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->