AIA, NMAA release state brackets

WINDOW ROCK

The state playoffs are here.

Over the weekend the Arizona Interscholastic Association and the New Mexico Activities Association released the state brackets for various fall sports.

In New Mexico, the football and soccer brackets were officially announced while the volleyball brackets will be released later as the regular season ends next week.

The AIA formally announced the bracket pairings for volleyball and football. The volleyball playoffs begin tonight with several local schools hosting their opponents.

In the 1A volleyball bracket, No. 7 Rock Points entertains No. 10 Ash Fork at 6 p.m.

No. 20 Valley Sanders plays at No. 13 Arizona Lutheran at 6 p.m. (MST) in a 2A Play-In game as the winner makes the 16-team state bracket.

At the 3A level, Window Rock, Winslow and Chinle were seeded 9-10-11 while Page got the 16th seed as those teams will host a Play-In game.

Window Rock hosts No. 25 Tucson Pusch Ridge at 6 p.m. in Fort Defiance.

“We actually seen them in a tournament, but we didn’t get to play them,” Window Rock coach Ashley Mitchell said. “I know they run a 5-1 (offense) and they have a tall outside hitter.

“They’re taller than us, so we have to play good defense,” she added.

Mitchell said she’s pleased to receive the ninth seed as the Lady Scouts missed the state playoffs last year.

“I’m content with that and I’m extremely proud of my girls,” the first-year Window Rock coach said. “We’ve made a lot of improvements as individuals and as a team and the girls should be recognized with that.”

Window Rock enters the playoffs as one of the hottest teams having won 12 of its last 14 games.

“We’ve made a connection with one another,” Mitchell said. “The girls have established some chemistry and it’s showing on the court.”

In other 3A action, Winslow plays host to No. 23 Camp Verde at 6 p.m. (MST) while Chinle entertains 3A North rival Tuba City at 6 p.m. In Page, the Lady Sand Devils hosts No. 17 Florence.

The top eight teams will await Tuesday night’s winners as the AIA will reseed the state bracket based on how each team finished the final state polls.

Monument Valley, the 3A North champion, earned the No. 3 seed in the final polls.

In football, the Holbrook Roadrunners were the lone area team to make the state playoffs as the Roadrunners earned the No. 16 seed. Holbrook will play top seed Pima on Friday at 7 p.m. (MST).

New Mexico playoff 

In New Mexico, three girls’ soccer teams in District 1-4A made the field in the girls’ state bracket.

The Aztec Lady Tigers were seeded No. 5 and they will host district rival Kirtland Central at 5 p.m. tonight.

“We were hoping for the four seed, but the reality is we were getting ready for the five seed anyways.” Aztec coach Leroy Nelson said.

This will be the third meeting this season between the two soccer squads with Aztec winning both earlier matches by a 1-0 and 5-2 count.

“Any team can be beaten,” Nelson said. “We have to be careful going into our game to where we’re not overconfident and thinking that we beat Kirtland two times already.

“We can’t take Kirtland lightly,” he added.

The winner will play No. 4 seed Los Alamos either Friday or Saturday.

The Bloomfield Lady Bobcats also punched their ticket to the 4A state soccer playoffs with the ninth seed. Bloomfield will make the long drive south to face No. 8 Roswell Goddard at 3 p.m.

In the boys’ soccer bracket, Rehoboth Christian earned the area’s highest seed at No. 4 in the Class 1A-3A bracket. The Lynx will entertain Santa Fe Prep at noon on Saturday.

In 4A, No. 10 Miyamura plays at No. 7 Albuquerque Highland at 6:30 p.m. with the winner facing No. 2 Albuquerque Academy either Friday or Saturday.

In football, the defending state champions Bloomfield Bobcats garnered the top seed in 4A. The Bobcats have a bye as the 12-team playoffs get underway on Friday.

In the state’s biggest classification, Farmington was seeded No. 11 in the 6A bracket, and they will travel to No. 6 Albuquerque Volcano Vista for a 7 p.m. game at Nusenda Community Stadium on Friday.

No. 3 seed La Cueva awaits the winner next week.

In 5A, Piedra Vista sits idle this week after receiving the No. 3 seed as the Panthers will take on the winner between Valley and Manzano in the No. 6-11 matchup.

In addition to Bloomfield, two other area schools also made the state football 4A playoffs with No. 6 Aztec hosting No. 11 Taos at 1:30 p.m. at Fred Cook Memorial Arena on Saturday with the survivor facing No. 3 Silver next week.

In the 8-9 bracket matchup, Grants will host Albuquerque Academy on Friday at 7 p.m. with the winner facing top seed Bloomfield next week.

In 3A, eighth seed Thoreau hosts No. 9 Raton at 1 p.m. on Saturday while No. 12 Navajo Prep plays at New Mexico Military Institute also at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

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