Topper Girls win district title by defeating the Moriarty Pintos in a game played Saturday night in Griffith Gymnasium. The Toppers struggled in the first half but pulled their game together the second half to win 56-52. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
GG Romero finds an opening in the strong Pinto defense to score. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
By MIKE COTE
Sports
Los Alamos Daily Post
One Los Alamos basketball team will be headed to the 2022-23 postseason, but the other will be staying at home.
The Los Alamos Hilltopper girls basketball team was awarded a No. 6 seed in the Class 4A playoffs.
Los Alamos will take on the Valley Vikings in the opening round Friday night at home.
Los Alamos’ boys, meanwhile, were frozen out of the playoffs this season. Los Alamos finished tied for second in the regular season District 2-A standings, but after the tiebreaker was applied, Los Alamos dropped to fourth place.
The Hilltoppers made a good case for inclusion during the district tournament last week, finishing as the tournament runner-up, but it wasn’t enough to propel them into the postseason.
The Hilltopper boys were hurt by the selection committee’s decision to give the Pojoaque Valley Elks a No. 15 seed, the second-lowest seed in the tournament. That meant there was no more than one more spot to potentially place the Hilltoppers, since they couldn’t be included without the Elks, who won the regular season tiebreaker between them.
For the Hilltopper girls, they won the 2-4A regular season title, then held Moriarty off in overtime to win the 2-4A tournament championship.
Los Alamos, which won 19 games this season and lost just three games out of its last 22, came back from a double-digit deficit at the break, outscoring Moriarty 18-3 in the third quarter to take the lead that Moriarty held for most of regulation Saturday night.
That game was broadcast on the Los Alamos Daily Post’s YouTube channel.
Saturday’s win was the third Hilltopper victory over the Pintos in as many tries this season. Moriarty did earn an at-large bid into the tournament, picking up a No. 12 seed.
Valley, its first-round opponent, finished with a record of 16-11 during the season. The Vikings finished second in the District 6 regular season and third in the 6-4A tournament.
Kirtland Central, to the surprise of no one, is the top seed in the girls 4A tournament. Gallup, St. Pius X and Hope Christian earned the 2-4 seeds.
The winner between Los Alamos and Valley will face the winner between the third-seeded St. Pius Sartans and the 14th-seeded Portales Rams in the second round March 7 at University Arena in Albuquerque.
For Los Alamos’ boys, their season is done. They came within a few minutes of earning an automatic bid into the playoffs, but couldn’t hold on to a late lead against the Taos Tigers in the district tournament championship Friday.
That game was also broadcast on the Los Alamos Daily Post’s YouTube channel.
Taos put up 21 points in the final quarter, most of those coming from center Daemon Ely, topped Los Alamos 57-53. Los Alamos led most of the way.
To get to the 2-4A tournament championship, the Hilltoppers defeated Moriarty at home, then knocked off Pojoaque Valley and Espanola Valley, both on the road, to advance.
Taos is the No. 7 seed in the boys tournament. Albuquerque Academy earned the No. 1 seed on the boys side.
Tara McDonald drives through the defense to the basket. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
Abigail Martinez and Michelle Macias try to strip the ball from Aneesa Chavez in the first quarter. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
Carley Holland and GG Romero box Presley Edwards into the corner late in the game. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com