2025 State Champions: 5A and 1A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2025 New Mexico Girls State Basketball Championships have come to an end. The Title Games for both the 5A and 1A Class, were held at UNM 'The Pit' on March 15. Here is how the respective games transpired!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5A: No. 1 Hobbs vs No. 2 Sandia</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Winner:</strong> Sandia</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Sandia Matadors have won back-to-back 5A State Titles after defeating the Hobbs Eagles, 47-38. From the get go, Sandia was the more energetic squad and did a good job of establishing the pace they wanted to play at. Offensively, the Matadors struggled from behind the arc, going 2/15 altogether, but that did not slow them down, one bit. In the end, it was the Matadors dribble-penetration that gave the Eagles problems. Multiple players were able to create off the bounce which lead to easy layups and or trips to the foul line. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1068188' first='Kaiyah' last='Benally'], the no. 1 ranked freshman, recorded a game-high 19 points, all coming off the bench! The 5'6" point-guard also had 8 rebounds and 3 steals but it was her play-making and ball-handling that dazzled. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='391109' first='Audriana' last='Wright'] posted 12 points and was a key piece in the Matadors nine point victory. The 5'10" small-forward not only guarded multiple positions, but would also help initiate the offense coming back down the court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia finishes the 2024-25 season with a record and game winning-streak</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1A: No. 1 Roy/Mosquero vs No. 2 Fort Sumner/House</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Winner:</strong> Roy/Mosquero </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Four players scored at least eight points for Coach Clavel, highlighted by [player_tooltip player_id='1058902' first='Tayla' last='Proffitt']'s game-high 24 points and [player_tooltip player_id='403407' first='Natalie' last='Smith']'s 17 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Proffitt, who is just a sophomore, gave Fort. Sumner/House, all they could handle, especially down on the block. As for Smith, the senior did a good job of spacing the floor, knocking down jumpers with ease.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Overall, the Blue DOMINATED the paint vs the Vixens, outscoring them 40-14 in paint-points. If that was not enough, the Blue outscored the Vixens, 45-30 in the second half, after being down by three points at the break (26-23).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roy/Mosquero finishes the 2024-25 season with a perfect record, going 30-0. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>*Statistics via NMAA*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->