Matt's Takeaways: Gatorade POTY, 1000 Point Club & More

<p>With District play underway for teams across the State of New Mexico, it marks essentially the start of the second half of the regular season for girls high school ball. As many programs have now played more than 15 total games, several players are playing out of their minds!</p>   <p>These are some of the biggest storylines and most important achievements that have unfolded over the course of the season so far!</p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">Gatorade Player of the Year</h2>   <p>Standout guard [player_tooltip player_id='370329' first='Bella' last='Hines'] from Eldorado, is the number one ranked player for the Class of 2025 and is putting up numbers that exceeds all expectations for a second year player. In just one and a half seasons, she has eclipsed 1,000 career points and is well on pace to reach 2,000.</p>    <p>After a stellar freshman year in which Hines averaged over 22 points per game, she now leads to State is scoring as a sophomore at 28 ppg. I asked Bella if there were there any aspects of her game that she wanted to improve on going into year 2 and if she has noticed any differences in the way opposing teams and players are guarding her.</p>   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p>“The skill that I wanted to improve most going into my sophomore year was my midrange game and my finishing ability” Hines said. “I feel like teams this year have been guarding me more aggressively and more physical but it hasn't changed the way I play, I still manage to find my spots." </p> </blockquote>   <p>This season, Bella has done an exceptional job of recognizing coverages in the half court and knowing which areas to exploit by the available spacing. It is evident by her shot selection, as she has taken more two point field goals this year compared to last. Although Hines was one of the top 3pt shooters a season ago, in terms of makes with 68, her ability to not rely on the 3ball is really impressive. In 11 less games, Bella is only 16 makes shy of her total as freshman.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-table is-style-stripes"><table><tbody><tr><td>Season</td><td>GP</td><td>2FGM</td><td>2FGA</td><td>2FG%</td></tr><tr><td>FR 2021-22</td><td>26</td><td>140</td><td>333</td><td>42%</td></tr><tr><td>SO 2022-23</td><td>15</td><td>124</td><td>237</td><td>52%</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stats as of 1/21/23 </figcaption></figure>   <p>The Eagles (8-7, 1-0) are looking to finish strong as they undergo District Play in perhaps one of the deepest Districts across the board. With aspirations of making a deep playoff run, the Lady Eagles will have to start stringing together wins over the final few weeks of the regular season. The good news, it is very possible when you have one of the best players on the court (Hines) on your side. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/EldoEaglesFB/status/1616279517059846148 </div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='370329' first='Bella' last='Hines'] connects on a 3pt shot from about 23 feet for her 1,000 career point - video via Eldorado FB, there in attendance to support</figcaption></figure>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">All-State Honors</h2>   <p>The Organ Mountain Lady Knights, who are ranked inside the top 10 per the latest coaches poll & via MaxPreps, have gotten off the a solid start thanks to great play from multiple players, especially [player_tooltip player_id='357650' first='Caitlin' last='Turnbow'].</p>    <p></p>   <p>More responsibility was bestowed upon Caitlin both on the offensive end but also from leadership standpoint this season for the Lady Knights. Two things she is continuing to work on are being the leading voice amongst her teammates & expanding her offensive repertoire by playing more on the perimeter.</p>   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p>"I think this year too, I've had a bigger leadership role and I'm trying to lead the team more and more as the season goes on...I'm really proud of us for how we've been playing lately, it seems like we've started to trust each other more and more as we go".</p> </blockquote>   <p> Turnbow has helped take the Lady Knights to a 12-5 start that includes being 2-0 in District and a midseason tournament title with the <em>Rio Rancho Invite. </em>Caitlin has posted seven games of 20+ points so far this season and has also taken a career high 17 attempts from 3pt range - only one attempt total as an underclassman. </p>   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p>"I felt like I needed to open up my game and become more of a diverse player" Turnbow said "not being one dimensional." </p> </blockquote>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/OrganMountainHS/status/1601742091167485952 </div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Organ Mountain Twitter account</figcaption></figure>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='353908' first='Aspen' last='Salazar'] is having a marvelous senior year that should land her "All-State" Honors and it would be a travesty if it does not happen.</p>    <p>Salazar has increased her scoring nearly 5 points from her Junior Season to now and is currently 5th in scoring (19.1 ppg) as of 1/19/23 - Aspen moves well without the ball, understands when to attack the cup but also when to take the three point shot. A part of her game that has improved tremendously. At this point in the season, Salazar is in the top 15 for made 3pointers with 25, which more than triples her total from last season! </p>   <p>On Monday 1/16/23, Salazar recorded a near triple double for the Centennial Hawks (10-6, 1-0) filling the stat sheet with an impressive line of - 23 points, 9 assists 9 rebounds. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/CoachAbney_/status/1615770862418030592 </div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hawks First Year Head Coach Matt Abney acknowledging [player_tooltip player_id='353908' first='Aspen' last='Salazar']'s impressive outing via Twitter</figcaption></figure>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">1,000 Point Club</h2>   <p>All-State senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='391172' first='Kathleen' last='Obisike'] from Hope Christian notched 1,000 career points earlier this season. </p>    <p></p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">Breakout Junior Season</h2>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='391245' first='Kapiolani' last='Anitielu'] from Farmington is having a tremendous season for the Lady Scorpions serving as the number one option for Coach Thomas Adair. Anitielu is currently in the top 15 in multiple statistical categories such as scoring and rebounding. A 18.4 ppg player (6th) & effective rebounder at 9.5 per contest (11th).</p>    <p>Farmington (17-1, 2-0) is currently #2 in the 5A rankings and just recently defeated the #5 ranked Sandia Matadors, 72-62 at home on 1/17/23. Kapiolani is well on her way to claiming another "All-State" selection but this time it should be 1st Team as opposed to 2nd Team. As a sophomore, Kapiolani claimed a 2nd Team selection in 5A, which is in itself is a great thing; But with that being said, she is balling out this year!</p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">4A Bigs OUT due to Injury</h2>   <p>There is perhaps nothing worse than injuries depriving a player of their senior season. Unfortunately, that is just the case with some of the more intriguing forwards within the 4A class - [player_tooltip player_id='353936' first='Evann' last='Segura'] & [player_tooltip player_id='353940' first='Zoe' last='Brown']. Two players that had some high expectations for the 2022-23 season.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='353936' first='Evann' last='Segura'] from Moriarty and the #8 ranked player for the 2023 class was poised to have a monster year for the Lady Pintos but has been out the entire year with a reported torn acl. A truly massive blow to Moriarty (10-8, 1-1) that was slated to have one of the better duos is 4A ( Segura & [player_tooltip player_id='353914' first='Aneesa' last='Chavez']). The Pintos, unfortunately are seeing the downside of being without Evann. They have already matched their losses in a season from last year (7) and are scoring more than 10 points fewer.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='353940' first='Zoe' last='Brown'] from Valencia is the #30 ranked player in the class of 2023 and was expected to help the Valencia Jaguars contend in 4A for a State Title. The senior forward/wing has been out with a knee injury all year not allowing Head Coach Micaela Medina to form her "Big 3" with Brown, [player_tooltip player_id='357652' first='Azalia' last='Malizia'] & [player_tooltip player_id='391108' first='Jadyn' last='Montoya']. The Jaguars (13-5, 1-0) are currently #4 in 4A Rankings which puts them on pace to exceed their win total from last year.</p>

With District play underway for teams across the State of New Mexico, it marks essentially the start of the second half of the regular season for girls high school ball. As many programs have now played more than 15 total games, several players are playing out of their minds!