Poised Totah girls advance to 5A semifinals

FARMINGTON

Having confidence can go a long way.

In the case of the Farmington girls’ basketball team, that level of poise paid off in the 5A state quarterfinals on Tuesday night as the No. 4 Lady Scorps (28-2) outlasted No. 5 Las Cruces by a 53-45 count.

After gaining a 47-40 cushion with four minutes left, Farmington milked some time off the clock to hold off the fifth-seeded Lady Bulldogs.

“Honestly, I think it’s the confidence that we have,” Farmington senior Kiiyani Anitielu said. “We played composed and running that spread helped us stay disciplined, and we made less turnovers.”

Farmington coach Larenson Henderson said that tactic worked to perfection even though they had some dicey possessions.

“We had a lot of wobbly stuff,” he said. “A lot of wobbly passes but, man, they got it done.”

Tuesday’s game was the second meeting between the two schools with Farmington beating the Bulldawgs 64-46 at the championship game of the Albuquerque Academy tournament in early December.

The rematch had a different take as Las Cruces led 26-23 at the break.

“They hit some big 3s,” Henderson said of the Bulldawgs. “I mean, they nailed shots that were deep. They can play and they’re a really good team.”

All told, the Las Cruces team hit five treys with senior Jaci Powers leading that charge with three makes.

Powers ended the game with 17 points while juniors Lila Ashida and Emma Christiano chipped in 13 and nine, respectively.

For Farmington, Kiiyani shared top team honors with younger sister Kapiolani as both finished with 14 markers.

Audrey Henderson and Kamalani Anitielu added eight each.

And although Farmington got balanced production from everyone, Henderson feels that Kiiyani can do more.

“I think Kiiyani needs to come around and attack more,” he said. “She did right off the back but you know she wants to get everyone involved at times and balance it out.”

The eight-point triumph on Tuesday netted the Scorps a meeting with top ranked Volcano Vista in the state semifinals. Tipoff is scheduled for today at 5:30 p.m. inside the Pit in Albuquerque.

“I’m excited to meet them,” Henderson said. “We’ve been dissing each other all year. We want to meet them and that’s all we want to do. We got our wish right now.”

Volcano Vista comes into today’s meeting owning a 27-0 record. For the season, the Lady Hawks have been averaging 65.8 point per game while holding opponents to 26.0 ppg.

The Hawks have breezed through all opponents, thanks to its relentless pressure on the defensive end.

“I’m hoping it plays to our advantage,” Henderson said. “They haven’t played anybody like us that can break presses.”

If the Hawks do press them, the Farmington coach believes that his club can hold their own and, perhaps, score in transition.

“I think that’s going to work in our advantage if we spread the floor out wide and have them come chase us,” he said.

The Volcano Vista roster has a plethora of offensive weapons, including three players that score in double figures headed by UNM signees Natalia Chavez (17.2 ppg) and Jaelyn Bates (13.1). The Hawks also has sophomore Taejhuan Hill averaging 11.7 ppg.

“They have three great players,” Henderson said. “I’ve heard about them and I would like to meet them.”

Like her coach, Kiiyani is excited to finally play Volcano Vista and she feels that rebounding is going to be a big key.

“We didn’t do a good job of it tonight,” she said. “We need a better effort.”

As for the Hawks’ playing style, the Farmington senior feels that they match up with Volcano Vista.

“We’ve played a lot of fast teams in the past,” she said. “I think we’re ready for them and we just got to believe in ourselves.”

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