No. 1 Melrose cruises in first round

MELROSE — Saturday's Santa Fe Waldorf-Melrose outcome likely surprised few who follow New Mexico boys basketball, based on Class A seedings and season records.

The Buffaloes came in seeded at the top of their class, having won 25 of 28 this season. Santa Fe Waldorf, at 7-12, was the 16th seed. So the Buffs' 90-22 victory at Melrose High School, though lopsided, was actually more par for the course than anything.

But lopsided and all, Saturday's victory was huge for Melrose because you can't get the ultimate state-tournament victory, the one that crowns you a champion, unless you get the first. Melrose got it Saturday, and will soon head north to try and bag the next three, starting with a Wednesday afternoon (1:15) quarterfinal against ninth-seeded Grady at Bernalillo High School.

"We're happy with where we're at," Melrose head coach Kevin Lackey said. "Obviously in the state tournament, it's lose and you're done. So we played well, we got off to a great start and kind of cruised from there."

"We've just got to come together every night, like we have been, and we'll make it pretty far," Buffaloes senior post Jordan Jasso said after scoring a game-high 20 points.

Melrose took control early Saturday, notching 16 points before Santa Fe Waldorf had scored any. Blake DeVaney hit a fast-break layup, followed by a defensive rebound by Jasso, which led to another fast-break layup for DeVaney. Carson Fraze then came up with a steal and drove for a layup. Sterling Sena soon found himself wide open for a basket off a slick feed from Fraze, and quickly it was 8-0.

Jasso scored inside; Sterling Sena collected a steal near Santa Fe Waldorf's basket and drove for a layup; DeVaney collected a steal, leading to a Sterling Sena baseline jumper; and shortly after another Santa Fe Waldorf turnover, Jasso scored an easy one inside, giving Melrose a 16-0 advantage.

You get the idea. All Melrose, all the time. It was 34-4 after the first quarter, 57-12 at halftime, punctuated by DeVaney's buzzer-beating heave. Jasso had grabbed the defensive rebound on the other end as the quarter's final seconds ticked away, then turned and lofted a pass to DeVaney along the left sideline. DeVaney dribbled a little then chucked one so close to the half's end that the buzzer sounded while the ball was still in flight. It banked in, adding some excitement for the Buffaloes as they headed into the break.

Santa Fe Waldorf didn't give up, though, not even in the fourth quarter, when the Wolves' Jeromy Lopez completed a four-point play from the foul line. But Melrose was just too big, too deep, too tough on the offensive and defensive glass, too effective in transition, too everything.

"We just come out and work together every night," Jasso said, humbly. "Practice pays off."

"It was a good way for our seniors to end their last home game," Lackey said.

It will be all neutral-court games in the Albuquerque area from here on out. Grady is the team Melrose defeated 80-48 in last weekend's District 4-1A tournament championship game, plus two other times in the regular season.

"I'm thrilled that we have good representation from our district in Albuquerque," Lackey said. "(But) they make me nervous because they're very talented, they know us so well. We're going to have to come out and play really well to get by."

"They've given us a little bit of trouble whenever we've played them," Jasso said. "If we do everything that we know how to, we should be able to beat them."