2025 NM State Basketball Championships: 5A Elite Eight Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2025 New Mexico Girls State Basketball Championships has now reached the second round or 'Elite Eight'. With that, comes the opportunity to play at 'The Pit'.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a brief recap of how each of the respective teams from the 5A Class advanced. Plus what to look for, as they take the court tomorrow!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Date: March 11</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">No. 1 Hobbs vs No. 8 Clovis @ 1:15 p.m.</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Recap</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles put up a staggering 106 points in their opening round win vs the Panthers. It was a masterful performance in regard to Hobbs connecting from behind the arc. With 25 made three-pointers -- a State Record -- the Eagles shot the lights out of the gym! Senior combo-guard [player_tooltip player_id='467055' first='Nakia' last='Mojica'], had a team-high 24 points, finishing with eight 'trey's on the night which set a school-record. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore's Gianna Cordova and [player_tooltip player_id='839471' first='Kerrington' last='Goff'] led Clovis to a 51-45 win over the visiting Hawks, securing their Elite Eight birth. Cordova, finished with a team-high 13 points. As for Goff, she had 11 points with seven coming in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preview</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles and Wildcats will meet for the fourth time this season, with the series being 3-0 in favor of Hobbs. In their first three meetings, Hobbs thrice scored at least 61 points while Clovis failed to score more than 41. Will it be a clean-sweep for the Eagles? Only time will tell. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">No. 12 Carlsbad vs No. 4 Farmington @ 8:15 p.m. </h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Recap</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cavegirls only had four players -- [player_tooltip player_id='1054256' first='Abbey' last='Dugan'], Hayden Brose, Rebecca Brown and [player_tooltip player_id='565814' first='Jasmynn' last='Gonzales'] -- score vs the Bulldogs, but that was enough to get the upset in the Round of 16. The aforementioned Dugan, had a game-high 22 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Scorpions defeated the Storm 56-48 and were led by the junior tandem of [player_tooltip player_id='828810' first='Caris' last='Dale'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1221611' first='Harmony' last='Thomas'] who combined for 29 points. Dale had a game-high 19 points on 7/11 shooting while Thomas chipped in with 10 points, going a perfect 4/4 from the floor. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preview</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farmington will enter Tuesday nights meeting having won their last eight games, averaging 55.1 points during that stretch. As for Carlsbad, they are 2-1 in their last three games. In those games, the Cavegirls held each opponent to under 40.0 points. So the question is, will the Scorpions offense prevail or will the Cavegirls defense put an end to the win-streak?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">No. 3 Mayfield vs No. 6 La Cueva @ 9:45 a.m. </h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Recap</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With their 23 point win in the Round of 16, Mayfield extended their winning-streak to 24 games! Three players -- [player_tooltip player_id='1259128' first='Serena' last='Carrasco'], [player_tooltip player_id='648234' first='Ceanna' last='McKines'] and [player_tooltip player_id='814475' first='Lorrena' last='Viarreal'] -- reached double-figures for Coach Maya.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bears defended home-court in the Round of 16 as they beat the visiting Bulldawgs, 60-41. Junior shooting-guard [player_tooltip player_id='648191' first='Jordyn' last='Dyer'] was the top scorer for La Cueva, totaling 17 points on the night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preview</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Back on Dec. 13, the Trojans defeated the Bears 44-36. In that game, Mayfield's [player_tooltip player_id='648234' first='Ceanna' last='McKines'] had a game-high 20 points on 7/12 shooting while La Cueva's [player_tooltip player_id='648191' first='Jordyn' last='Dyer'] had a team-high 17 points, going 4/14 from the field. How will this Elite Eight meeting play out? We shall see!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">No. 10 Rio Rancho vs No. 2 Sandia @ 4:45 p.m.</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Recap</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='839457' first='Madilynn' last='Martinez'] powered Rio Rancho into the Elite Eight thanks to a 24-point performance on the road against Los Lunas. In the end, the Rams defeated the Tigers 56-45 moving to 21-10 on the year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia's [player_tooltip player_id='391103' first='Sydney' last='Benally'] had the highest individual scoring performance of the Round of 16 -- at the 5A Level -- with 27 points. Fellow teammate [player_tooltip player_id='642716' first='Nadia' last='Randall'], logged her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. When all was said and done, the Matadors easily handled the Hawks by 17 points (59-42).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preview</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Rams and Matadors will meet for a third time this season as they clash in the Elite Eight. Sandia won the first two meetings by an average margin of 10 points, but how will this new chapter play out? Stay Tuned.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->