Elite Eight: The Top Performers in 5A and 4A

The 2025 New Mexico Girls State Basketball Championships has been nothing short of spectacular thus far. With the conclusion of the quarterfinal round, several teams are one step closer to hoisting the title. The Elite Eight, which was held yesterday (March 11) prompted great play from a handful of players and teams. Games featuring teams from the 5A and 4A Class, were held at 'The Pit' home to the UNM Lobos. Here are the top performers!   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5A Class</h2>    Dyer had her fingerprints all over the quarterfinal matchup vs No. 3 Mayfield, finishing with a game-high 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals.   The junior shooting-guard went 10/15 from the field and was the only Bear player to make more than two field-goals. Dyer's ability to score at multiple levels was the difference in the ball game as Mayfield had no answer for her.     McKines had a team-high 12 points on 6/8 shooting and 7 rebounds for the No. 3 Trojans. The junior forward did a tremendous job of batting inside the paint-area. When McKines go the ball, it either resulted in easy layups or jumpers.     Hobbs yet again dominated their opposition and yet again, so did Clay. The 5'9" Air Force commit finished with a game-high 15 points on 6/10 shooting. Clay also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for the No. 1 Eagles who defeated the No. 8 Wildcats, 82-21.     Mojica chipped in with 12 points en route to notching her 1,000 career-point for the Eagles. In the 61 point victory, the senior sniper and NMHU commit, connected twice from distance while also having 4 assists and 5 steals.     Benally, the no.1 ranked freshman, delivered for Coach Kettig in the Elite Eight as she finished with a team-high 16 points on 6/8 shooting. On top of that, the 5'6" point-guard had 6 rebounds and 4 assists for No. 2 Sandia who beat No. 10 Rio Rancho, 60-43.     Giddings put up 15 points and 7 rebounds vs the Rams, helping the Matadors secure their second consecutive Final Four birth. The 5'8" shooting-guard went 5/8 from the floor overall and 2/3 from the three-point line.     Jack put the Rams on her back, finishing with a game-high 18 points. Despite the the 17 point loss (60-43), No. 10 Rio Rancho did manage to win the free-throw battle vs No. 2 Sandia. Jack being the primary reason for that. The sophomore point-guard went 8/10 from the charity stripe.     Dugan went absolutely bonkers vs No. 4 Farmington, posting the highest individual scoring performance of the Elite Eight. The 5'9" shooting-guard finished with 31 points to lead No. 12 Carlsbad into the Final Four, continuing their 'cinderalla' story!   Dugan was on fire and could not be stopped, especially off the bounce.     Gonzales stepped up for the Cavegirls, dropping an impactful 12 points on 5/7 shooting. The 5'10" senior was poised and made timely plays throughout the game vs the Scorpions.     Anitielu, a savvy junior shooting-guard, recorded a team-high 16 points for the No. 4 Scorpions in addition to grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing-out 7 assists.     Dale nearly sent No. 4 Farmington into the Final Four thanks to multiple BIG TIME three-pointers late in the fourth quarter. The 5'9" junior went 4/7 from distance, finishing with 15 points.    <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4A Class</h2>    Montgomery, who has come alive as of late, had a team-high 11 points for the Jaguars. The lanky sophomore only missed one shot, going 4/5 from the floor vs No. 5 Albuquerque Academy.     Otero ended up scoring 10 points for No. 4 Valencia with eight coming in the fourth quarter. The 5'7" junior gave the Jaguars the lead (35-34) with 3:24 left to play after an old-fashioned 3-point play!     Fulfer led No. 3 Portales with a team-high 13 points on 5/14 shooting. Moreover, Fulfer finished one rebound shy of recording a double-double, ultimately grabbing 9 for the Rams vs the Sartans.     Ornelas was a difference maker for the Rams due to her activity on both ends of the court. The senior point-guard helped send No. 3 Portales into the Final Four after registering 12 points on 5/13 shooting. Ornelas also grabbed 5 rebounds vs No. 6 St. Pius X.     Anaya did all she could for the Sartans and without a doubt, left it all out on the court. The senior point-guard logged a game-high 21 points on 8/13 shooting. Additionally, Anaya had 9 rebounds and 6 steals for No. 6 St. Pius X.     The Bengals cruised to victory, 58-38, and were led by Whitehair, who posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The 6'2" center only made 3/9 field-goals but did manage to go 8/10 from the charity stripe.     It was an efficient outing for Joe, who had 12 points, going 5/7 from the field for No. 2 Gallup. The 5'10" power-forward gave the Wildcats problems all game long, especially inside the lane.     Aguayo battled to the very end, finishing with a game-high 15 points for No. 7 Deming. As team, the Wildcats shot 16/56 from the field with Aguayo being responsible for six of those makes.     Nocki had a team-high 14 points for No. 1 Kirtland Central, who easily defeated No. 9 Hope Christian, 58-18.   Overall, Nocki shot 6/11, connecting on two three-pointers on six attempts.     Tsosie, the no. 2 ranked freshman, tallied 12 points to help the Broncos advance to the Final Four. The 5'8" small-forward went 5/9 from the floor which includes going 2/4 from deep.    *Statistics via NMAA*

The 2025 New Mexico Girls State Basketball Championships has been nothing short of spectacular thus far. With the conclusion of the quarterfinal round, several teams are one step closer to hoisting the title. The Elite Eight, which was held yesterday (March 11) prompted great play from a handful of players and teams. Games featuring teams from the 5A and 4A Class, were held at 'The Pit' home to the UNM Lobos. Here are the top performers!