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Good first half lifts Melrose to rout
MELROSE — Melrose High's girls basketball team set the tone for Friday's Class 1A opening-round state playoff game in the first quarter.
The Lady Buffaloes can only hope that is a microcosm of the tournament itself.
The second-seeded Lady Buffs would certainly like Friday's 60-36 home victory over 15th-seeded Walatowa Charter to be a tone-setter for the state tournament, a sign that they're on their way to hoisting a trophy next Saturday. They've taken step one of four, with the three subsequent steps likely to be a bit more precarious.
"We're just preparing ourselves for a good match, the teams that we're going to face," Lady Buffaloes sophomore guard Nataley Mondragon said after dropping in a game-high 20 points Friday. "They're going to give us competition, so we're just preparing and ready for that."
"It's all about moving on," Melrose head coach Caleb King said. "At this point you just want to make sure you get to the next round, so we're focused on the next team we play."
That will be seventh-seeded Grady, an area team, in Wednesday's quarterfinal round at Bernalillo High School. Tipoff time is 6:30 p.m.
Melrose already seemed headed for the quarterfinals by the end of Friday's first period. Though it was tied at 2 early with both teams struggling to score, a baseline jumper by Melrose's Brette DeVaney with 5:35 to go in the quarter put her team ahead for good while kick-starting a 7-0 run. Melrose's next possession ended with a right-side trey from Landry Widner - three of her 17 points - and the Lady Buffaloes' possession after that began with a Nataley Mondragon steal and ended quickly, as Mondragon drove all the way for a layup to make it 9-2. It was the first of four Mondragon steals in the opening period.
"The main thing is, we want to play fast," Mondragon said, "and try our best and work to the best of our abilities, so we can get that win."
A basket from Walatowa Charter's Antonia Chinana ended her team's scoring drought, and the Lady Cougars did reclaim possession with a chance to slice their deficit to three or even two points. But, Mondragon collected another steal, again starting a possession that she herself finished, this time with a right-side trey that put Melrose ahead 12-4.
With the score 12-5, Mondragon did it again, coming up with a steal and driving for a coast-to-coast layup to give the Lady Buffaloes a 14-5 lead. She was fouled on the play, and after hitting the and-one, the Lady Buffs held a 10-point advantage, their first double-digit margin of the game. It would never again be single digits.
Late in the quarter, Melrose's Hailey Martin scored inside, reaching down to collect a loose ball and putting it up and in. That hoop was soon followed by a left-elbow trey from Lakasey Mondragon, handing the Lady Buffaloes a 20-5 edge.
They remained in control, leading 41-14 by halftime, a big enough cushion to overcome their 19 total second-half points.
"First half was pretty good," King said. "Second half, we just didn't execute. ... That's not something that we've done this year. We're going to have to work on that, work out those things, get ourselves prepared for Albuquerque."
Texico 66, Santa Rosa 28 — A week after seeing a 16-game winning streak end at the hands of a tough Clayton defense, Texico started what it hopes will be a four-game winning streak to end the season with an easy win over their District 5-3A counterparts.
Baylee Sours scored 16 for Texico (23-4), which jumped out to a 40-16 lead at the half.
"We came out, I thought, with good focus," Texico coach Richard Luscombe said. "I thought we did a good job of executing both on offense and defense. It was a slow start, but not to the point where it hurt us. Once we got in the flow, we started playing pretty well."
The Wolverines will face Pecos, a 64-32 winner over Tierra Encantada. The 3A bracket went all chalk, with Tohatchi, Loving, Tucumcari, Clayton, Eunice, Tularosa and Dulce also pulling wins.
Elida 45, Reserve 8 — There wasn't much intrigue in the Class 1A 1-16 matchup, as the seven-time defending small-school champs had three players outscore Reserve.
Elida (22-7) moves on to an 11:30 a.m. Wednesday quarterfinal at Bernalillo High School against either Cimarron or Hondo Valley.
Lacy Ferguson scored 12 points to lead the Tigers, while Cambree Bargas added 11 and Kasyn Creighton nine.
It was clear even before the 14-0 first quarter ended that Reserve (7-18) was a little overmatched.
"With a lot of co-opted schools and only 22 teams total, the bottom is weaker than most classes, but we did play well and tried to work on some things," Elida coach Jaden Isler said. "It was a good game for us to play a lot of kids and get some younger girls minutes just in case they need to play some in the later rounds."
Taylor Laney led Reserve with four points.
Grady 40, Springer 33 — Grady rode a balanced effort, with three players in double figures on a 40-point night for the team. Timia Northcutt scored 11, while Leah Starbuck and Yara Sotelo each had 10.
"They play mostly a zone defense, and that's why my guards were able to score as much as they did," Grady coach Tammy Northcutt said. "We got a lot of steals and turnovers off of our press. We ran an aggressive press, got plenty of layups."
Grady will face Melrose in the last 1A semifinal on Wednesday, a 6:30 p.m. affair at Bernalillo High School. It will be the fourth time the teams have faced off, with Melrose taking the first three.
"Melrose plays a good, aggressive defense, so we've got to handle the pressure the whole game," Northcutt said. "Nobody can know them any better than we do."
Tatum 41, Dora 37 — A tale of two halves went against the visiting Coyotes, as Tatum outscored Dora 25-11 in the second half.
No. 9 Dora (17-12) built a 26-12 lead by half, after holding No. 8 Tatum (17-10). However, the tables completely turned after halftime.
Dora scored just two points in the third period and was held to just one field goal the entire half. Brenna Bates led the way with 12 points, while Tatum was led by Celeste Jimenez' 23 points.
In two meetings this season, Dora has lost to Tatum by a combined four points, scoring 37 points in each loss.
Tatum advances to a 3 p.m. Tuesday quarterfinal against top-seeded Tatum at Bernalillo High School
"We've had a lot of ups and downs," Dora coach Gabe Montoya said. "We're in a tough district, and this is the third year in a row that we've gotten matched up with a team from our part of the state.
"I'm sad for our four seniors. This is my fifth year, and they've been with me for four of those. Throughout the season, we battled, but we just couldn't get over the hump."
— Kevin Wilson and Eric Murray contributed to this report