2023 New Mexico State Championships: 4A & 3A Quarterfinals

<p>The 2023 <em>Nusenda Credit Union Girls Basketball Championships </em>are now being played at neutral locations, the Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the 5A & 4A Classes and at the Rio Rancho Events Center for 3A. The Quarterfinals take place on March 7th and the games slated to take place, should be nothing short of fun and exciting!</p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#1 Kirtland Central vs #8 Bloomfield @ 6:30 pm</h2>   <p>Defending 4A State Champions, the Kirtland Central Broncos (27-3) cruised in the first round vs #16 Deming and will now run it back against District foe, Bloomfield for the third time this season.<br>Both wins over Bloomfield were by double digits but defeating a team three times in one season is always challenging.<br>Bloomfield (18-10) is a solid team led by duo [player_tooltip player_id='357656' first='Danielle' last='Johnson'] & [player_tooltip player_id='391243' first='Aliya' last='Quintana'], two double-digit scorers that are shooting over 40% from the field.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-table aligncenter is-style-stripes"><table><tbody><tr><td>Player</td><td>PPG</td><td>FG%</td></tr><tr><td>Johnson</td><td>13.0</td><td>44%</td></tr><tr><td>Quintana</td><td>10.8</td><td>47%</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stats via Max Preps</figcaption></figure>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p></p>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#2 Gallup vs #10 Valencia @ 3 pm</h2>   <p>The Gallup Bengals are quietly becoming a favorite to claim the 4A title. They now face a scrappy Jaguars team that completed the lone upset in the opening round (4A).</p>   <p>Valenica Guard, [player_tooltip player_id='357652' first='Azalia' last='Malizia'] said the win “felt great” and “was a big step for us”.</p>   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p class="has-text-align-center">“It felt great to be able to capture that [road] win. Being able to compete with my team and knock out a well [balanced] #7 Silver City team. It was definitely a big step for us.”</p> </blockquote>   <p>Gallup likes to play “small ball” going 4 out-1 in with Sophomore Forward [player_tooltip player_id='467051' first='Rylie' last='Whitehair'] operating the paint. The Bengals (25-5) surround Whitehair with shooters in Senior Guards, Delia Tello & Kiera Livingston. Small Forward [player_tooltip player_id='458571' first='Daliyah' last='Morris'] is also a viable threat that has the ability to really make things difficult for opposing teams to guard in the open court. </p>   <p></p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p></p>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#3 St. Pius X vs #6 Los Alamos @ 11:30 am</h2>   <p>Darkhorse contenders Saint Pius X, earned a top three seed and have a great chance of reaching the semi finals. In order to do so they must handle business against the Hilltoppers of Los Alamos, in the quarterfinals.<br>St. Pius X (21-5) are the District 5-4A Champs and are led by Junior [player_tooltip player_id='385929' first='Alyssa' last='Maes'] & Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='458557' first='Catalina' last='Anaya']. The Lady Sartans have won 13 consecutive while the Hilltoppers (20-7) are the District 2-4A Champs and have won five games in a row!<br>Which winning streak will be snapped, only time will tell!</p>   <p></p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p></p>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#4 Hope Christian vs #5 Artesia @ 8 am</h2>   <p>The Hope Christian Huskies barely survived an opening round upset versus the Lovington Wildcats. It took a pair of last second free-throws from Senior [player_tooltip player_id='391174' first='Alyssa' last='Vigil'] to ice the game.- Vigil finished the game with 16 points and also notched 1,000 career points in the win- The Huskies (21-7) now look to put the opening round scare behind them as they now take on the #5 Artesia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs (19-8) are the District 4-4A champs and have won eight consecutive games. Can the winning streak continue? We shall see first thing Tuesday morning.</p>   <p>Hope's [player_tooltip player_id='391172' first='Kathleen' last='Obisike'] had a game high 21 points vs #13 Lovington in the opening round of the 2023 4A State tournament on 3/3.</p>   <p></p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p></p>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#1 Robertson vs #8 Thoreau @ 1:15 pm</h2>   <p>The defending 3A Champions, the Robertson Cardinals have dominated all year and that continued in the opening round of the 3A State Tournament with a 36 point route of #16 Hot Springs. The Lady Cardinals only loss thus far, was to a 5A program in Centennial High School.<br>Robertson (27-1) now faces a Thoreau Hawks team that pulled out a tough "W" over West Las Vegas by two points in the opening round. Thoreau (19-10) finished 3rd in District 1-3A, playing .500 ball with a 6-6 record over there last 12 games prior to Fridays win, over the Dons.</p>   <p></p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p></p>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#2 Navajo Prep vs # 7 St. Michael's @ 4:45 pm</h2>   <p>Navajo prep (25-3) is a solid, tough and very dangerous team in this 3A Class. Winners of their last 17 games, the Eagles are the District 1-3A Champs & have emerged as a the team to possibly dethrone Robertson. But first they must beat a St. Mike's team (18-11) that has almost doubled their win total from last season (10-19).</p>   <p></p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p></p>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#4 Tohatchi vs #5 Tucumcari @9:45 am</h2>   <p>Tohatchi (21-9) put up the most points in the opening round regardless of class with 85 points! The scoring barrage came against #13 Socorro, but can they repeat their offensive rhythm against #5 Tucumcari (20-6)? The Lady Rattlers are allowing opposing teams to score under 35 points per game!</p>   <p>Players to watch<br>Lady Cougars - Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='560952' first='Brooke' last='Badonie'] & Sophomore wing player [player_tooltip player_id='565810' first='WynterRose' last='Sheka']</p>   <figure class="wp-block-table aligncenter is-style-stripes"><table><tbody><tr><td>Player</td><td>PTS</td></tr><tr><td>Badonie</td><td>364</td></tr><tr><td>Sheka</td><td>205</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stats via Max Preps</figcaption></figure>   <p>Lady Rattlers - Senior [player_tooltip player_id='391175' first='Alexus' last='Lafferty'] and Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='391105' first='Caylee' last='Benavidez'] </p>   <figure class="wp-block-table aligncenter is-style-stripes"><table><tbody><tr><td>Player</td><td>PTS</td></tr><tr><td>Lafferty</td><td>377</td></tr><tr><td>Benavidez</td><td>275</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stats via Max Preps</figcaption></figure>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p></p>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">#3 Santa Fe Indian School vs #6 Sandia Prep @ 8:15 pm</h2>   <p>SFIS (21-7) Head Coach Teri Morrison was “pleased” with the game plan against first round opponent, #14 Ruidoso and applauds the support from the bench in their 18 point victory.</p>   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p class="has-text-align-center">“Defensively, I was pleased with [our] game plan and our bench players gave us great support!”</p> </blockquote>   <p>As for their next opponent, the Sandia Prep Sun Devils (19-9), Coach Morrison feels the game will come down to three things:</p>   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p class="has-text-align-center">“[First] We must value the ball, [second] we must take the best shot on offense, not the first shot, and [lastly] we need to play team defense and control the top player for Sandia Prep”.</p> </blockquote>   <p>That would be Forward [player_tooltip player_id='353926' first='Mika' last='Juan'], who is having a monster season for the Sun Devils. Juan is almost averaging a double-double and ranks among the leaders in steals per game.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-table aligncenter is-style-stripes"><table><tbody><tr><td>Player</td><td>PPG</td><td>RPG</td><td>SPG</td></tr><tr><td>Juan</td><td>16.4</td><td>9.2</td><td>4.8</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stats via Max Preps</figcaption></figure>

The 2023 Nusenda Credit Union Girls Basketball Championships are now being played at neutral locations, the Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the 5A & 4A Classes and at the Rio Rancho Events Center for 3A. The Quarterfinals take place on March 7th and the games slated to take place, should be nothing short of fun and exciting!