ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Girls state tournament basketball resumed early Thursday morning at The Pit. By evening, the defending champion of Class 5A found themselves moving on. Top seed Volcano Vista improved to 27-0 with a 67-55 victory over the 4 seed, Farmington. Natalia Chavez scored 21 points for the Lady Hawks while Taejhuan Hill finished with a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds.
The Hawks will play the Hobbs Eagles in the championship game. The Eagles got 18 points and a game-sealing block from Aniya Joseph in the victory. “I also knew I had four fouls,” said Joseph. “So, I was like, I’m getting this block or I’m getting a foul and I just went for it.”
The Class 5A championship game has a 6 pm start time at The Pit Friday. Kirtland Central defeated Portales 48-43 to earn a trip to the Class 4A championship game. The 2020 champion will meet the winner of 2-Gallup and 3-Bernalillo in the title game at 8 pm Friday. In Class 3A, Robertson defeated the 4 seed Crownpoint 51-37. The victory set up a championship date between last year’s runner-up, Robertson, and Santa Fe Indian School. SFIS, the number 3 seed, defeated number 2 Tohatchi 43-41. The Class 3A championship game is 4 pm Friday.
In other sports news, former Lobo football players got a chance to display their talents in front of NFL scouts Thursday as the school held its Pro Day.
New Mexico United is ready to kick off the regular season Sunday. It will be the debut of first-year head coach Zach Prince. “The memories from those first 3 years were incredible and I expect the same kind of atmosphere we had in 2019 and I can’t wait for that,” said Prince. Game time Sunday is 5 pm.
It will be a 2 pm start for Lobo baseball Friday. The cherry and silver is hoping to get back on track after a rough stretch on the road. The Lobos are 4-8 on the season and will host Mountain West Conference for Fresno State. “Being back at home, I mean there is a lot less pressure on us,” said UNM pitcher Riley Egloff. “I feel like we come back and we are a lot looser. It will be a different story now that we have a conference game at home.”
