Lady Buffs subdue Gateway Christian

MELROSE - Melrose's girls play a quick, aggressive style of defense, and it causes opponents a lot of trouble.

Gateway Christian actually plays much the same way, and can also make its foes plenty uncomfortable.

The main difference between the two squads is that the Lady Buffs pack more scoring punch. Monday night, in their second meeting in less than two weeks, Melrose got off to a quick start and held the Lady Warriors in check for the most part in a 45-30 Class 1A state quarterfinal victory.

Senior Hailey Martin led the way for Melrose (11-1) with 21 points, including 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

On Tuesday night, the third-seeded and defending 1A champion Lady Buffs (11-1) were set to face another familiar foe, traveling to second-seeded Fort Sumner for a semifinal matchup with District 6-1A rival Vixens (11-1).

The two teams have split two recent meetings, each winning on the other's court.

"We just have to rest and get our minds right for that game," Martin said.

The winner plays in the state finals on Thursday at The Pit in Albuquerque against the winner of Tuesday's other semifinal between top-seeded Roy and No. 5 Animas.

"Gateway came out and played hard," Melrose girls coach Caleb King said. "We've learned how to go against a press, so that was good for us."

King wasn't that concerned about possible fatigue against the Vixens, who routed Ramah 63-32 on Monday night.

"We've had to do this quite a bit," he said. "We just have to regroup and play hard (Tuesday)."

In the earlier meeting, the Lady Buffs led 20-13 at the quarter and struggled mightily in the middle two stanzas before nailing down a 43-37 win. This time, they had a 15-point halftime lead and the Lady Warriors (7-3) were unable to take advantage despite holding Melrose scoreless for the first seven minutes of the third stanza.

"I'm just proud of my girls; they played their butts off," Gateway coach Holly Tipton said. "It's been a really fun team to coach."

Both teams had turnover problems, combining for 54. But the Lady Warriors, who finished with 31 floor errors, struggled with nine consecutive turnovers early and Melrose put together an 11-0 run for a 13-2 lead.

Martin's scored from the paint and was fouled with one second left in the quarter, making it 17-6. She missed the free throw, but grabbed the long rebound and hit a bank shot as time expired, and the lead was never under 13 after that.

It just felt a lot closer.

"We started off good," Martin said. "At the end, we just had to pull it together and finish the deal."

Junior Hannah Lilley was Gateway's top scorer, finishing with 10 points.