Prep Girls Hoops New Mexico: Opening Week Top Performers

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the first week of High School Basketball in New Mexico complete, we take a look at some of the top performances from players around the state in opening week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='357695' first='Zarai' last='Lewis']</strong> (Clovis) Guard Class of 2024: The Clovis Guard led the Wildcats to a 63-56 win in the season opener vs the Storm. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='357695' first='Zarai' last='Lewis']</strong> scored 22 points and went 12/18 from the free throw line. She also grabbed 7 rebounds in the victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='357657' first='Taejhuan' last='Hill']</strong> (Volcano Vista) Class of 2024: [player_tooltip player_id='357657' first='Taejhuan' last='Hill'] and the back-to-back defending state champion Hawks defeated Tohatchi 72-43 in their season opener at home. She led the team in scoring with 18 points and shot 8/12 from the field. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391179' first='Lila' last='Ashida']</strong> (Las Cruces) Shooting Guard Class of 2023: The Las Cruces Bulldawgs defeated the Los Lunas Tigers 55-20 in a blowout victory at home in the season opener. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391179' first='Lila' last='Ashida']</strong> and teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='353927' first='Emma' last='Christiano']</strong> led the team in scoring with 18 points. She also had 3 rebounds and 3 assists to start off her senior year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='353927' first='Emma' last='Christiano']</strong> (Las Cruces) Point Guard Class of 2023: The Las Cruces Point Guard led the team in scoring with teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391179' first='Lila' last='Ashida']</strong> with 18 points. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='353927' first='Emma' last='Christiano']</strong> was 7/10 from the field, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished 4 assists and collected 4 steals in the season opener win vs Los Lunas 55-20. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391110' first='Bleona' last='Agushi']</strong> (Del Norte) Point Guard Class of 2025: Despite losing the season opener to Pojoaque Valley 38-36, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391110' first='Bleona' last='Agushi']</strong> led the Knights in scoring with 14 points to start off her sophomore year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Leilani Love</strong> (Albuquerque) Center Class of 2023: Leilani Love started off her senior season with a double-double on the road vs Valley. <strong>Leilani</strong> scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and collected 4 steals in the 57-40-win vs Valley. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='459606' first='Mari' last='Manzanares']</strong> (Volcano Vista) Guard Class of 2023: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='459606' first='Mari' last='Manzanares']</strong> the Senior Guard from Volcano Vista played well for the Hawks in their season opener at home vs Tohatchi. She was the team's second leading scorer in the 72-43 victory. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='459606' first='Mari' last='Manzanares']</strong> scored 14 points, went 5/9 from the field and shot 4/6 from three. She had a double-double in the game with 10 rebounds and stole the ball defensively 7 times. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='353911' first='Ariana' last='Sanchez']</strong> (Albuquerque) Small Forward Class of 2023: [player_tooltip player_id='353911' first='Ariana' last='Sanchez'] made an impact on both ends of the floor in the season opener vs Valley. She scored 13 points on 5/8 shooting from the field and accumulated 7 steals in the 57-40 win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391323' first='Mila' last='Espinoza']</strong> (Volcano Vista) Guard Class of 2025: The sophomore guard had a good start to her second season with Volcano Vista. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391323' first='Mila' last='Espinoza']</strong> was the third leading scorer with 13 points in the team's season opener 72-43-win vs Tohatchi. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='357713' first='Rylee' last='Allen']</strong> (East Mountain) Forward/Center Class of 2024: Despite losing their season opener to Hot Springs by one 34-33 at home, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='357713' first='Rylee' last='Allen']</strong> played well. Even though she only scored 6 points, she grabbed 20 rebounds which was the most through opening week. She currently leads the state in rebounding. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->