Las Cruces upsets Farmington in 5A quaterfinals

ALBUQUERQUE

Farmington girls basketball coach Tom Adair was pretty adamant that he has the best team in Class 5A.

They had planned on contending for the state title this year, but those plans were derailed Tuesday night as No. 7 Las Cruces upset the Lady Scorps 62-60 in OT.

“I still feel like we have the team that has the capability of winning a state championship,” Adair said. “I told the girls I feel they’re the best team in the state.

“Unfortunately, some things didn’t go our way,” he added. “That is what life is. You gotta face adversity and be resilient and bounce back. I told them I want them to hold their heads high because they had an excellent season.”

Farmington looked like they were going to advance following a transition layup by Kaipiolani Anitielu for a 50-44 lead with 3:24 left.

But Las Cruces had an answer as Lila Ashida hit her third trey of the night to cut the Scorps lead in half.

Ashida hit a game-tying 3 with seven seconds left as Farmington had one last opportunity to win it in regulation. The Scorps, however, didn’t get a shot off in time.

“I just felt that my team would back me up on the shot,” Ashida said. “Our play was to get a 3-point shot and a look. I thought that I had that look and I just took it because I knew my team would have my back if it didn’t go in, but it did go in.”

In OT, the Lady Bulldawgs of Las Cruces opened up a 59-54 cushion in the first 2.5 minutes of the extra session.

“Crucial,” Las Cruces coach Lori Selby said when asked about how big that was for her team. “I mean, we talk about this all the time – just give me five points and we can beat anybody in that situation and they did it.”

Farmington made one last gasp and got within 62-61 following a basket by Anitielu with 16 seconds left. At the other end, Las Cruces guard Danae Pacheco hit 1-of-2 at the charity line at the 9.3 second mark.

The Lady Scorps made one last attempt to tie the game, but Anitielu’s shot missed its mark.

“I was really proud of the way we fought in overtime,” Adair said. “We were down by five, and a lot of teams would have given up, but our girls didn’t. We fought to the end and we had a chance at the end to win the game.

“I’m proud of the girl’s effort,” he added. “There was no fault in the effort.”

Anitielu finished with 14 points as she scored all of Farmington’s points in OT. Early on it was senior Tinaya Parrish who carried the team as she scored a season-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting.

“I just came ready to play,” Parrish said. “As a senior, I was ready and I gave it my all.”

“This young lady had just a beautiful game in every way and she did everything I could possibly ask of her,” Adair said of his pupil.

Ashida led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting, which includes a 4-of-11 effort from long range.

Other 5A action

In an earlier game, the Volcano Vista Lady Hawks had to overcome a slight hiccup to get past the Las Cruces Centennial Lady Hawks.

The defending state champ saw a third quarter cushion dwindle to a 30-24 lead at the start of the fourth before pulling away with a 44-36 win.

“It’s great to be in the Final Four, it’s what we strive for,” Volcano Vista coach Lisa Villarreal said. “Obviously, there’s one more to get to the big game. These girls have worked hard all season long. You know, I keep talking about how they’re writing their story and it continues. I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made this season.

“I know at the beginning we weren’t really looked at to be a team to be reckon with, but I think we proved to a lot with where we’re at right now.”

Last season, Volcano Vista graduated a bevy of talent and this year they have some new faces, which includes Diné players Lilliana Duncan and Storm Nguyen.

Duncan, a starter, finished with seven points while Nguyen came off the bench and put in eight.

“I just had to stay focus, but it’s really good to play this role,” Duncan said.

Volcano Vista three-year starter Taejhuan Hill, who finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, said the new players are coming around.

“I knew what to expect coming in,” Hill said. “The rest are new to this, but I think they’re doing a really good job so far.”

Volcano Vista will play Las Cruces in Thursday’s state semifinals at 1:15 at the Pit.

In other 5A action, the Sandia Lady Matadors were eliminated on Tuesday with Diné sophomore Sydney Benally scoring 21 points in a 51-43 loss to top seed Hobbs.

After getting off to a slow start, Benally pumped in 15 of her points in the second half as Sandia briefly led 40-39 with 4:16 to go in the fourth quarter.

Hobbs, however, went on a 12-0 run to make Thursday’s semis.

“I told them that I was proud of them because they looked experienced out there,” Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter said of his team’s last-minute rally. “I said to them, ‘you’re gonna win this game because you’re experienced and you’re gonna get it done.’”

Still, the Hobbs coach had some reservation as Sandia came back from nine-point halftime deficit.

“Benally is good,” he said. “Benally is unbelievable. She is a really good guard. She deserves a lot of credit. She’s got all the respect for me and, hey, sometimes you gotta call it the way you see it and she’s a great player.”

Sandia coach Lindsey Kerwin said her club lost its legs as Hobbs was able to swing the momentum with an offensive board to start its 12-0 run.

“I think we were tired and Hobbs was able to sub five at a time and keep those rotations going,” she said. “Honestly, we ran out of gas, but we know better than that.

“It’s a rebound on a free throw and we got four kids down there and we should have boxed out,” she added. “We didn’t do that, and they hit that 3 and they catch that momentum. It’s hard to come back from that with that amount of time left.”

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