NM State Tournament Semifinals: Top Performers

<p style="text-align: center;">The New Mexico high school basketball state tournament started this past Saturday March 5th. With so much excitement throughout the state, there was several great performances that were displayed on the biggest stage of the season during the second round in the state Quarterfinals.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">[player_tooltip player_id="353694" first="Natalia" last="Chavez"]- 5’9 Shooting Guard "Volcano Vista" Class of 2022</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">[player_tooltip player_id="353694" first="Natalia" last="Chavez"] led #1 Volcano Vista to a 67-55 win vs #4 Farmington in the 5A Semifinals. She scored a team high 21 points and made 5 three-pointers in the game. She also grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. She played all 32 minutes of this game and led Volcano Vista to the 5A State Championship game vs #2 Hobbs Friday March 11th.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">[player_tooltip player_id="357657" first="Taejhuan" last="Hill"]- 5’11 Center "Volcano Vista" Class of 2024</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="357657" first="Taejhuan" last="Hill"] had a huge impact in helping Volcano Vista defeat #4 Farmington in the 5A girls semifinals. She posted a double-double scoring 18 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. She controlled the paint from both ends of the floor and had 10 offensive rebounds. She shot 7/14 from the field and 4/6 from the free throw line. Volcano Vista will face #2 Hobbs in the 5A State Championship Friday March 11th.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Carolina Romero- 5’6 Shooting Guard "La Cueva" Class of 2022</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Despite the loss in the 5A semifinals to #2 Hobbs, Carolina Romero had a solid performance for the La Cueva Bears. She led the team in a low scoring defensive game 41-39. She scored 14 points and made four three-pointers in the game and had 6 steals.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Aniya Joseph- 5’9 Center "Hobbs" Class of 2024</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Hobbs center Aniya Joseph was the best player on the court tonight during the 5A Semifinals vs #3 La Cueva. She posted a double-double in the teams 41-39 win. She scored 18 points on 7/11 shooting from the field, shot 4/4 from the free throw line and grabbed 10 rebounds. #2 Hobbs will face #1 Volcano Vista in the 5A State Championship Friday March 11th.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">[player_tooltip player_id="353690" first="Kiiyani" last="Anitielu"]- 5’7 Guard "Farmington" Class of 2022</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Farmington star [player_tooltip player_id="353690" first="Kiiyani" last="Anitielu"] left everything on the court tonight despite the 5A semifinals loss to #1 Volcano Vista. Kiiyani scored a game high 24 points on an efficient 8/16 shooting from the field, made five three-pointers and was just shy of a double-double with 9 assists. Farmington eventually lost 67-55.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">[player_tooltip player_id="353683" first="Juliana" last="Aragon"]- 5’5 Point Guard "Bernalillo" Class of 2022</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">The New Mexico Girls Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year [player_tooltip player_id="353683" first="Juliana" last="Aragon"] led Bernalillo to the 4A State Championship in their 63-59 win vs #2 Gallup. [player_tooltip player_id="353683" first="Juliana" last="Aragon"] recorded a double-double scoring 21 points on 8/18 shooting from the field, shot 4/5 from the free throw line and dishing out 11 assists to her teammates. Bernalillo will face #1 Kirtland Central in the 4A State Championship Friday March 11th.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">[player_tooltip player_id="353912" first="Gabby" last="O’Hara"]- Forward ’Bernalillo" Class of 2023</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">[player_tooltip player_id="353912" first="Gabby" last="O’Hara"] played a huge role down the stretch of the 4A semifinals game vs #2 Gallup. She recorded a double-double in the teams 63-59 win posting 12 points and 11 rebounds. She was pivotal down the stretch when the game came down to free throws, she shot 7/8 from the free throw line. Bernalillo will face #1 Kirtland Central in the 4A State Championship Friday March 11th.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hailey Long- 5'11 Center "Gallup" Class of 2022</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Despite the loss to #3 Bernalillo in the 4A Semifinals, Hailey made sure everyone knew her name tonight with her dominant performance. She posted a monster double-double with 19 points, 20 rebounds and even dished out 7 assists from the center position. She shot an efficient 9/14 from the field and grabbed 9 offensive rebounds. Gallup lost 63-59 but Hailey Long was the clear best player in tonight's game.</p> &nbsp;