Melrose cruises into 1A girls semifinals

BERNALILLO — If the Class 1A bracket is any more difficult in 2019 with New Mexico consolidating six classes into five, nobody’s told the Melrose Buffaloes.

The 1A runnerup for the last two seasons remained on cruise control as the top seed, pummeling eighth-seeded Moriarty 73-33 Wednesday evening at Bernalillo High School.

Nataley Mondragon scored 23 to lead Melrose (23-6), which never trailed and outscored the Rams in every category, including in the paint (30-14), off turnovers (31-18), second chance (16-1) and off the bench (30-9).

“The last time we played Cimarron, it was a four-point game (55-51 win Feb. 9),” King said. “We got down six in the first quarter, 10 at the half. This time, we got in the press early. We got the lead, and they had a hard time doing anything.”

That winner will face either No. 2 Tatum or No. 3 Logan in the championship, set for 10 a.m. Saturday at The Pit.

Shannon May had 12 points and eight rebounds for Melrose, which faces fifth-seeded Cliff in a 3 p.m. Thursday semifinal at the Santa Ana Star Center. Cliff defeated Pine Hill 51-40.

The Buffaloes and the Cowgirls played each other in the championship of the Reserve Tournament in mid-January, winning 54-34. King didn’t think the rematch would be as easy, noting the Cowgirls lost a key post to an injury early in that matchup.

“They’re a good team. It should be a tough game. We’ve got to make sure they’re ready to play. They’ve got a lot of size.”

They’re a good team. It should be a tough game. We’ve got to make sure they’re ready to play. They’ve got a lot of size.

The Rams (19-10) were held to 12-of-38 shooting, including 1-of-10 from 3-point range, and had 27 turnovers on the night. Angel Gonzales was Cimarron’s only double-figure scorer with 12 points.