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| Hobbs' Tesla Deberry dribbles Tuesday. |
I made the trip to all three games from the Santa Ana Star Center to The Pit back to Bernalillo High School to cover each contest and here are just a couple thoughts from each game. For complete coverage of the games, read Wednesday's edition of the Hobbs News-Sun.
Class 5A - No. 5 Hobbs 39, No. 4 Mayfield 35
Hobbs jumped out to an early 13-3 lead and never relinquished it during a slim win. Mayfield cut the lead to one point late in the fourth, but clutch free throws by Tesla Deberry and Danielle Patterson shut the door.The Lady Eagles looked good against a Mayfield squad it defeated earlier this season. Hobbs handled Mayfield's press well for the most part and didn't allow the Lady Trojans many points in transition. Hobbs has the pieces to do something special, it will just be a matter of execution. Good win for Hobbs. I haven't seen top-ranked Eldorado play this season so I'm not sure how Hobbs will match up with them 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center.
Class 3A - No. 12 Lovington 40, No. 4 St. Michael's 29
A slow-paced game early, Lovington trailed 14-12 at the half before Mystica Perez scored 15 of her game-high 16 points in the second half and the Lady Wildcats outscored St. Michael's 28-15 in the final two quarters.Again like I've said before, Lovington is much better than its seed. With two 6-footers and a player like Perez (even with her far from full strength as she still recovers from her ACL injury) along with other players such as Jordyne Young and Jocelyn Jeffrey, this is a team nobody wants to face.
It's all very similar to Lovington's run in 2008 when as a 12th seed the Lady Wildcats made it to the state semifinals. Lovington plays No. 1 Hope Christian 8 a.m. Thursday at The Pit and will try to make it a step (maybe even two) farther than five years ago.
Class 1A - No. 2 Tatum 57, No. 7 Logan 49
It wasn't pretty, but Tatum will take it. The Lady Coyotes came out sluggish and trailed by seven points late in the first quarter before retaking the lead in the second quarter for good.Devanne Sours was dominant with 14 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks while Kylie Wheeler finished with 14 points before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury.
Tatum coach Mike Majors told me he'd be surprised if Wheeler played 3 p.m. Thursday against No. 3 Cliff at Bernalillo High School. It's just been bad luck for a team that lost leading scorer Monica Ramirez in the first round of state due to a knee injury.
Depth has been Tatum's strength this season and it's going to find out just how good it is.
