Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Area state basketball tournament quarterfinal capsules

(Seeds in parentheses)

Boys

All games Wednesday

CLASS 4A

(7) St. Michael’s vs. (2) Portales

When/where: 3 p.m. at Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho

Records: St. Michael’s 15-14, Portales 23-4

Round of 16 games: St. Michael’s beat Wingate 59-48; Portales beat Shiprock 74-57.

Head-to-head: The Rams beat St. Mike’s 54-49 in a round-robin tournament at Santa Fe in January.

Of note: The teams have played three common foes — Lovington, Santa Fe Indian and Silver. Portales is 3-0, while the Horsemen went 3-1 — losing to Lovington and beating SFIS twice. … Despite being just over .500, the Horsemen have outscored their oppoents by an average of around 4 ppg this season.

CLASS 3A

(7) Estancia vs. (2) Texico

When/where: 5 p.m. at Rio Rancho Cleveland H.S.

Records: Estancia 18-11, Texico 22-7

Round of 16 games: Estancia beat Tularosa 57-46; Texico beat Tohatchi 74-32.

Head-to-head: The teams have not played this season.

Of note: The Bears took the District 6 regular-season title, but lost to second-place Cuba in the tournament finals. … Estancia has nine games of 80 or more points this season. … Against common opponents, Estancia is 4-1, Texico 6-2, with all of the losses coming against 3A No. 3 Santa Rosa. The Wolverines have split four games with their District 5 rivals.

CLASS 2A

(5) Mesilla Valley vs. (4) Fort Sumner

When/where: 8 a.m. at Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho

Records: Mesilla Valley 21-8, Fort Sumner 23-3

Round of 16 games: Mesilla Valley beat Alamo Navajo 81-58; Fort Sumner beat Hagerman 54-42.

Head-to-head: The teams have not met this season.

Of note: Against common foes, the Sonblazers are 8-0, while Fort Sumner is 6-3. The Foxes’ only losses this year are to Texico (twice) and Dexter, while Mesilla Valley has beaten the Wolverines (68-65) and the Demons (53-29). … Junior G Hunter Conn leads the Sonblazers in scoring (15.6 ppg), followed by 6-foot-5 sophomore C Josh Castillo (11.8) and senior G Hunter Coyle (10.4).

CLASS 1A

(6) Vaughn vs. (3) Melrose

When/where: 8:15 p.m. at Bernalillo H.S.

Records: Vaughn 20-6, Melrose 23-6

Round of 16 games: Vaughn beat Reserve 64-54; Melrose beat Cimarron 71-42.

Head-to-head: The teams have not met this season.

Of note: Melrose won the Class 2A state title last season. … The Eagles are coached by Jack Props, who is in his second season after spending several years at Melrose as an assistant football coach. He also coach the Lady Buffs’ basketball team for a couple of years. … Three of Vaughn’s losses are to District 3 champion Hondo, the District 3 champion. … Against common foes, the Buffaloes are 10-0, Vaughn 4-1 with the only setback to Class 1A No. 10 Floyd (39-35). … The Buffs come in having won 10 in a row. Their last loss was a 58-55 decision at Class 3A No. 3 Santa Rosa on Jan. 24.

(10) Floyd vs. (2) Maxwell

When/ where: 9:45 a.m. at Bernalillo H.S.

Records: Estancia 18-11, Texico

Round of 16 games: Floyd beat Evangel Christian 45-31; Maxwell beat Animas 86-48.

Head-to-head: The teams have not met this season.

Of note: The Bears come in on a six-game winning streak. Their average margin of victory this season is 25 points. … Floyd has won seven of its last 10. … Common opponents are Grady and Evangel Christian. Maxwell has beaten each once while the Broncos are 3-0 with two wins over Grady in District 4 play.

Girls

Tuesday

CLASS 4A

(5) Moriarty vs. (4) Portales

When/where: 11:30 a.m. at The Pit, Albuquerque.

Records: Moriarty 19-7, Portales 17-10

Round of 16 games: Moriarty beat Hatch Valley 49-41; Portales beat Pojoaque 75-37.

Head-to-head: The Lady Rams won two of three meetings with their District 4 rivals, splitting in the regular season with each winning on the other’s floor before beating the Lady Pintos 56-38 in the district tournament semifinals.

Of note: Portales is seeking its first state title since 2013. … The teams have virtually identical records against common opponents — Moriarty 6-2, Portales 7-3. All the losses are to district champion and top-seeded Hope Christian.

CLASS 3A

(10) Loving vs. (7) Texico

When: 11:30 a.m. at Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho.

Records: Loving 16-13, Texico 20-7

Round of 16 games: Loving beat Pecos 65-48; Texico beat Raton 59-14.

Head-to-head: Texico beat the Lady Falcons 50-35 on Jan. 14 in a game played at Tatum, outscoring Loving 24-8 in the final quarter.

Of note: With Friday,s win, Texico posted at least its 12th consecutive campaign with 20 or more wins. … The two-time defending champion Lady Wolverines have won the last two titles in Class 3A. They’ve reached the state finals in either 2A or 3A in eight of the last 10 years, winning six championships. … Loving’s leaders are senior G Brianna Rodriguez (17.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 4.2 spg) and junior PG Alyssa Carrasco (11.9 ppg, 3.4 apg). … The teams have five common opponents, with Texico going 3-2 in those games and the Lady Falcons 3-7.

CLASS 2A

(5) Fort Sumner vs. (4) Mescalero

When: 3 p.m. at Bernalillo H.S.

Records: Fort Sumner 19-9, Mescalero 24-6

Round of 16 games: Fort Sumner beat Dora 61-46; Mescalero beat Pine Hill 62-37.

Head-to-head: The Lady Chiefs beat the Vixens 50-42 on Jan. 13 at Mescalero.

Of note: Mescalero shared the regular-season District 3 title with third-seeded Lordsburg, lost the seeding playoff game and then lost to the Lady Mavericks in the district tourney final. The Lady Chiefs are 2-3 against Lordsburg this year. … The Vixens and Lady Chiefs have no common opponents.

Wednesday

CLASS 1A

(8) Grady vs. (1) Elida

When: 6:30 p.m. at Bernalillo H.S..

Records: Grady 14-14, Elida 23-6

Round of 16 games: Grady beat Cimarron 55-35; Elida beat Carrizozo 61-25.

Head-to-head: The squads face off regularly. This will be their fourth meeting this season, with Elida taking the first three.

Of note: Elida has been the dominant force in New Mexico small-school girls basketball in the recent past. The Lady Tigers have won six consecutive small-school crowns, with the first four in then-Class B. … Grady and Elida also met in the 2010-11 Class B final, with the Lady Tigers winning 60-48. … Since the 2008-09 season, when Elida lost to then-district rival Floyd 52-38 in the 1A state finals, the Lady Tigers have compiled a 172-50 overall record. Since 2009-10, they hadn’t lost to a team at their classification level until splitting four games with Melrose this year.

Walatowa Charter vs. (2) Melrose

When/where: 3 p.m. at Bernalillo H.S.

Records: Walatowa Charter 17-5, Melrose 20-10

Round of 16 games: Walatowa Charter beat Quemado 62-60; Melrose beat Reserve 55-13.

>Head-to-head: The teams have not met this season.

Of note: Melrose defeated then-district rival Logan 48-47 last year to win the Class 2A state title. … According to MaxPreps.com, the Lady Cougars have played just four home games this season, including Saturday’s win.

— Compiled by Dave Wagner

 
 
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