Albuquerque High beats Los Lunas 49-33

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>LOS LUNAS, N.M. </em>-- The Bulldogs extending their winning streak to seven games behind a balanced attack over the Tigers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tuesday night meeting, was a highly anticipated 5A-District 5 matchup. Albuquerque High saw six total players score, with two reaching double-figures and five scoring at least seven points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Early on, Albuquerque High trailed by one point, 7-6 at the 4:12 mark in the first quarter. It appeared it was going to be one of those "get it out the mud" type of games. Meaning, a physical battle that would require multiple players to dig deep and find a way, by any means, to walk away victorious. However, as the game progressed, the Bulldogs found their rhythm on offense and turned up the intensity defensively. The rest of the way, the Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 43-26, ultimately claiming the 16-point road win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the moment, Albuquerque High has sole possession of first place in 5A-District 5, sitting at 2-0. Overall, the Bulldogs own a 14-4 record.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='839434' first='Zaiyah' last='Hawley'] finished with a game-high 12 points, torching the Tigers in catch and shoot situations. Hawley connected on four three-pointers for the Bulldogs, and was often the recipient of swing-passes and or kick-outs. That said, the sophomore guard did have a buzzer-beater to end the first half. A Bank'd in three-pointer along the side-line, right in front of the Los Lunas bench as time expired.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='648216' first='Maliyah' last='Lee'] tallied 10 points and was the unsung player of the game. Lee did a tremendous job of impacting the game on both ends of the floor with her activity. The junior small-forward moved well without the ball, punishing opposing defenders with her cutting (dive cuts &amp; backdoor cuts). On the flip-side, Lee had active hands and held her own as an on-ball defender.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Abby Pavia and [player_tooltip player_id='648201' first='Lailah' last='Bouldin'] chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively. The tandem picked their moments when to attack and when to create. What's more, both point-guards have the ability to get the charity stripe anytime they want because of their savvy ball-handling and physicality when going downhill. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for Los Lunas, they move to 2-1 in District play and go to 17-4 overall. Altogether, Los Lunas struggled to convert in the half-court, particularly from deep. After more than 20:00 minutes of game-time, the tigers finally made a three-pointer and it was not for lack of trying.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='648200' first='Alyssa' last='Campos'] had a team-high eight points with them all coming in the first half. The 5'10" junior forward made a valiant effort to get to the basket by attacking both along the baseline and from the foul-line. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alas, the only other bright-spot for Los Lunas was [player_tooltip player_id='1233328' first='Jalexa' last='Ornelas'], a 5'6" point-guard. Midway in the third quarter, Ornelas came in and went on a personal 6-0 run. The freshman confidently made back-to-back three-pointers from the top of the key, ending the Tigers drought from behind the arc. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NEXT UP:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Albuquerque High (14-4, 2-0) vs Rio Grande (2-16, 1-1) | Jan. 30 | 7 p.m.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Los Lunas (17-4, 2-1) @ Rio Grande (2-16, 1-1) | Feb. 4 | 7 p.m.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->