Small-school roundup: Phipps dominates for Texico in 3A quarters

RIO RANCHO — Junior Nathan Phipps just missed a triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks, and the second-seeded Wolverines took in the second quarter for an 83-71 victory over Estancia Wednesday at Cleveland High School.

Braden Fraze scored 19, while Dalton Thatcher added 16 for the Wolverines (23-7).

“Nate played solid, and we just need him to clean up a few things,” Texico coach Scott Karger said. “He cleans up a few more things, and there’s a chance he gets a quadruple-double.”

Reyez Herrera and Drayton Oberg both scored 19 to lead the Bears (18-12).

Texico moves on to a 4:45 p.m. semifinal Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center against Santa Rosa, which needed overtime to top Clayton 69-68.

“We know to expect from them, they know what to expect from us,” said Karger, who noted it will be the teams’ fifth meeting. “It will be a dogfight.”

It was one of six Wednesday games involving small-school area teams, with four claiming victories.

Class 1A boys: Melrose 81, Vaughn 47

The Buffaloes, last year's 2A champion, never trailed in their quarterfinal against eighth-seeded Vaughn and led by as many as 37 in the fourth, with coach Jim Doherty going deep into the bench.

Of the 14 who played for the Buffaloes (24-6), 13 of them scored — led by junior Jared Lee's 15 points. Blake DeVaney added 14, and Jordan Jasso had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Nobody reached double figures for Vaughn (20-7), led by Morgan Beruman's nine points.

Class 2A boys: Mesilla Valley 66, Fort Sumner 53

RIO RANCHO — Josh Castillo scored 20 to lead three Son Blazers in double figures, and fifth-seeded Mesilla Valley pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Hunter Coyle added 13 and Kevin Campbell 10 for Mesilla Valley (22-8), which moves on to a 3 p.m. Thursday semifinal against either Magdalena or Escalante at the Santa Ana Star Center.

Noah Maxwell had 15 points to lead the Foxes (23-4), who were called for 16 fouls versus five for the Son Blazers. Maxwell made the only two free throws the Foxes shot all afternoon, compared to Mesilla Valley’s 10-for-16 performance.

Mesilla Valley’s Hunter Conn had six points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Class 1A boys: Maxwell 62, Floyd 37

BERNALILLO — Kolten Riggs dominated for the second-seeded Bears, with 19 points and 17 rebounds, and there was plenty of balance with three other Bears in double figures at Bernalillo High School.

Maxwell, which took matters over with a 25-7 second quarter, led by as many as 30 in the fourth. They got 16 points from Aaron Salazar and 11 each from Jeremy Archuleta and Carl Gonzales. Salazar hit five of the team’s eight 3-pointers.

The Bears (26-3) will play the winner of Melrose and Vaughn, who play in an 8:15 p.m. quarterfinal at BHS.

Floyd got a double-double from Adrian Borrego with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but nobody else reached double figures for the Broncos (15-13).

Class 1A girls: Melrose 71, Walatowa Charter 46

BERNALILLO — Melrose, the champions of Class 2A for two years before being moved down to 1A this year, had little problem at Bernalillo High School and led by as many as 34 points early in the fourth.

Freshman Nataley Mondragon led three in double figures with 15 points, while senior Reagan Carthel had 14 points and six boards for Melrose (21-10), who will face Roy in a 4:45 p.m. Thursday semifinal, also at BHS. Roy held off sixth-seeded Coronado 65-56.

Seventh-seeded Walatowa Charter opened with the first basket, but held the lead for all of 48 seconds and trailed for the final 31:07.

Antonia Chinana scored 18 points and Samantha Gachupin had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards for Walatowa. But only four other players scored, and none had more than five points.

Jaydan Beard added 10 for Melrose.

Class 1A girls: Elida 53, Grady 23

BERNALILLO — Madi Haley posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and the defending champion Tigers never trailed in a rout over their District 4-1A rivals.

Bonnie Bennett added 11 for Elida (24-6), which moves on to a 1:15 p.m. semifinal against Hondo Valley at Bernalillo High School. The Eagles (24-4) topped Animas 39-33.

Thursday’s winner will play for the Class 1A title 11:30 a.m. Friday at The Pit. Elida is looking for its seventh-straight small-school title — four in the former Class B and the last two in Class 1A.

The Tigers led by as many as 29 points in the fourth, and held the Bronchos (14-15) to 23 percent shooting on the evening.

Yara Sotelo scored 15 points to lead the Bronchos, while Morgan Borden and Sage Starbuck added four each to round out the scoring.