2023 New Mexico Girls State Tournament Championship Review

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2022-23 New Mexico High School Girls Basketball regular season came to a close. It was a fun and exciting season across the state. We covered the State Tournament all week and finally crowned our five 2023 State Champions. Here's a recap of how each game went in the championship round:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Friday March 10th, 2023</strong>:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline">3A #3 Santa Fe Indian vs #4 Tohatchi at 3:00pm at "The Pit"</span></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tohatchi was able to bounce back from last year's playoff loss to Santa Fe Indian in the 3A Girls State Semifinals. They upset the team that cost them a trip to last year's 3A State Championship Game. They were led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='560952' first='Brooke' last='Badonie']</strong> and <strong>Marisa Denesto</strong> who scored 12 points each and combined for 24 points, which was as many as the Santa Fe Indian roster. Tohatchi won 46-24 to win the 2023 3A State Championship Title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline">2A #1 Escalante vs #7 Texico at 5:00pm at "The Pit"</span></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Texico Wolverines won the first 2A State Championship since 2018. They won the State Title in upset fashion by knocking off #1 Escalante 44-30. It was a low scoring game, but the player of the game was <strong>Emma Wahlen</strong> who recorded a double-double; scoring a game high 12 points and grabbing a game high 10 rebounds in the victory. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline"><em>4A #1 Kirtland Central vs #2 Gallup at 7:00pm at "The Pit"</em></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Gallup Bengals knocked off #1 Kirtland Central from their thrown. It is the second State Title for the Gallup Bengals in the last three years. They defeated Kirtland Central 57-47 and won the season series 3-2 this year. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='467051' first='Rylie' last='Whitehair']</strong> was the most dominant player in the game with a huge double-double; 18 points and 13 rebounds. Despite the loss, <strong>Aaryanna Lansing</strong> from Kirtland central played well with a double-double of her own with 19 points and 10 rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Saturday March 11th, 2023</strong>:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline">1A #2 Roy/Mosquero vs #4 To'hajiilee at 10:00am at "The Pit"</span></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roy/Mosquero was able to hold on to defeat To'hajiilee 62-61 in the 1A Girls State Championship Game. It was balanced scoring for the team having four player score double digits in points; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391183' first='Donata' last='Secatero']</strong> with 15, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391173' first='Alyce' last='Apachito']</strong> with 13, <strong>Cadence Secatero</strong> &amp; <strong>Tyler Rose-Apachito</strong> both scoring 12. It is the second State Title in the previous three years for Roy/Mosquero.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline">5A #1 Hobbs vs #3 Volcano Vista at 2:00pm at "The Pit"</span></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hobbs Eagles continued their winning tradition reaching the State Championship Game for the 6th year in a row. Over the span, they just won their third State Title by defeating Volcano Vista 52-45. Over the last four year's, them and Volcano Vista have been responsible for the last four State Titles; winning two each. Four of Hobbs starters ended in double-figures; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='467053' first='Jayla' last='David']</strong> 12 points &amp; 10 rebounds, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='467055' first='Nakia' last='Mojica']</strong> with 12 points, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='458555' first='Bhret' last='Clay']</strong> with 11 points and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='458556' first='Brynn' last='Hargrove']</strong> with 10 points. With the young core, expect the Hobbs Eagles to be the favorites going into next season again. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->