Lady Buffs reach another title game

BERNALILLO - It's the same old, same old for the Melrose girls basketball team.

On Friday night, the Lady Buffs reached their eighth consecutive state championship game, turning back No. 8 To'Hajiilee 50-35 at Bernalillo H.S. In Saturday morning's title clash at The Pit in Albuquerque, they were slated to face a familiar foe in District 6-1A rival Fort Sumner (20-4), which defeated another 6-1A member in Logan 37-30 in Friday's early semifinal tilt.

Melrose was seeking its fourth state title in that span, having won in 2015 and 2016 in then-Class 2A, and in 2020 in 1A.

Against To'Hajiilee, which upended top-seeded Animas in Tuesday's quarterfinals, the Lady Buffs (22-7) struggled through a first half when nothing seemed to go in the basket for them and, in fact, little did - the Lady Buffs were just 4-of-23 from the floor while the Lady Warriors (20-5) went 9-for-20 en route to a 21-15 lead.

But To'Hajiilee rarely goes to its bench, and only did so when senior Erynn Montehermoso picked up her fourth foul in the closing moments of the half.

In the second half, the shooting numbers pretty much reversed - the Lady Buffs shot 50 percent (13-of-26) while To'Hajiilee managed just 3-of-21.

The lack of depth proved too much for the Lady Warriors to overcome. Regularly shuffling eight players in and out of the lineup, Melrose quickly came alive in the third quarter when junior Isabelle Sena hit a 3-pointer and another basket to cut the difference to one.

Senior Johanna Roybal's fourth 3-pointer of the game put Melrose ahead for good 31-28 late in the third period. The Lady Buffs dominated the final stanza 19-6, including 11-2 over the final four minutes, to win going away.

"They just ran out of gas," Melrose coach Caleb King said of the Lady Warriors. That was probably the biggest reason why they were fouling.

"They're a pretty good team, but we just kept up the pace of the game (in the second half."

Montehermoso played until fouling out down the stretch. She scored all 13 of her points before halftime, though, and shared team scoring honors with senior post Alyce Apachito.

Meantime, Sena finished with 15 points and Roybal added 14 for the Lady Buffs.

It was going to be a quick turnaround to the finals from Friday's 5:30 p.m. start, but King said his team would just have to deal with it.

"We've just got to go play a good game," he said. "Whoever comes out ready to play will probably get (the win)."

Fort Sumner defeated Melrose twice during regular-season district play, but the Lady Buffs won over the Vixens 35-34 in the district tournament championship game at Fort Sumner on Feb. 25.