Farwell advances to boys finals

TEXICO – Farwell defeated Jal 67-37 on Thursday and Tohatchi 70-57 on Friday to move into Saturday's boys championship against defending champion Magdalena in Texico's Citizens Bank tournament.

Meantime, the girls final on Saturday night was to pit Tohatchi against Magdalena.

Senior Corey Stancell scored 11 of his 23 points in the third quarter as Farwell (7-4), leading by a single point, pulled away from Tohatchi (4-3) with a 29-11 third-quarter blitz in the boys semifinals. Junior Ryder McElroy added three 3-pointers and 13 points for the Steers, while sophomore Braddock Foster scored 10.

For the Cougars, senior Talan Long had 11 points and junior Adriano Begay 10.

In Thursday's quarterfinal win, the Steers trailed 17-16 at the quarter before holding Jal (2-3) to just 20 points the rest of the way. Senior Cesar Snyder scored 15 points for Farwell, while McElroy, sophomore Ruben Molina and freshman Hudson Agee tallied nine each and Stancell finished with eight.

Meantime, Texico's boys earned a 68-61 victory over Newcomb on Thursday night before falling to Magdalena 57-45 in the semifinal round.

The Wolverines (5-4) opened a nine-point lead with a 13-6 third-quarter run against Newcomb (4-3). Senior Kyle Gonser scored a personal-best 24 points to lead Texico, while seniors Cade Figg and Daltyn Cain tallied 16 and 10, respectively.

For the Skyhawks, seniors Mikal Ashley and Roydell Edison posted 18 and 11 points, respectively.

Texico led Magdalena 9-8 at the quarter in the semifinal round, but the Steers (6-0) scored the first eight points of the second stanza and never looked back. Six-foot-5 junior Joseph Zamora netted 16 points for Mag while senior Krae Stephens and 6-5 junior Jeff Stuteville tallied 10 apiece.

In other quarterfinal games on Thursday, Tohatchi routed Tucumcari 77-45 and Magdalena thumped Tatum 67-17. Meantime, Friday's consolation semifinals saw Jal beat Tucumcari 53-43 and Newcomb win over Tatum 72-45.

Girls – Texico bounced back from a first-round loss to beat Estancia 48-32 in Friday's consolation semifinals, jumping out to an 18-8 first-quarter advantage.

Junior Desiree Holman notched 10 of her game-high 14 points in the opening half for the Lady Wolverines (2-6), while senior Cadence Smith scored 10. For the Lady Bears (5-3), who got snowed in on Thursday and had to forfeit their first-round game to Tularosa, senior Dezlyn Carreon scored 10 points.

Texico dropped its quarterfinal tilt on Thursday to Magdalena 44-26. Sophomore Jema Ganadonegro had 16 points and junior Jorianne Mirabal 14 for the Lady Steers (6-0), while Holman had nine points and junior Adalyn Autrey eight for Texico.

In other Thursday quarterfinals, Tatum defeated Newcomb 50-38 and Tohatchi crushed Jal 74-21. On Friday, Mag beat Tularosa 48-21 and Tohatchi downed Tatum 47-38 in championship semifinals, while Newcomb got past Jal 38-32 in the consolation bracket.