Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The third-seeded Logan girls basketball team punched their ticket to the Class 1A quarterfinals with a dominating 78-29 home victory Friday over 14th-seeded Alamo Navajo in the first round of the tournament.
The Lady Longhorns jumped to leads of 23-6 after the first quarter and 42-17 at intermission.
Desta Rose led Logan with 31 points. Hailee Robertson made five 3-pointers and totaled 17 points. In all, the Lady Longhorns made 11 3-point shots.
Logan coach Dustin Robertson said his team played hard, despite their foe being overmatched.
“Their intensity was where it needed to be,” he said. “They did not overlook their opponent just because Alamo had a low seed. I didn’t figure my girls would, but I was incredibly proud of them for being mentally strong about it.”
The Cougars, led by Sapphira Sandoval’s 13 points, finished their season with a 17-14 record.
Logan (21-7) advanced to play sixth-seeded Jemez Valley (25-4) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bernalillo High School.
Jemez Valley, which conquered 11th-seeded Springer 51-42 in its first-round game, also earned an early season victory over Class 3A quarterfinalist Tucumcari.
“Jemez Valley is damn tough,” Robertson said. “They are athletic, fundamentally sound and strong physically. It will take our best effort on Wednesday.”
The winner of that game will face the winner of the Dora-Cliff game in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
Tenth-seeded Dora stunned seventh-seeded and host Melrose 49-44 in their first-round game. Cliff, the No. 2 seed of the tournament, squeaked by 15th-seeded Reserve 38-34 in its playoff opener.
Top-seeded Roy-Mosquero survived a 41-38 scare against 16th-seeded Animas in the first round. The Lady Blue faces ninth-seeded Corona-Vaughn and 6-foot-5 star Harper Dunn on Wednesday. Corona defeated eighth-seed Quemado 46-34 in its playoff opener.
One of Logan’s district foes, fourth-seeded Fort Sumner, advanced in the tournament past Pine Hill 65-41 and faces fifth-seeded Magdalena on Wednesday.
The Class 1A championship is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at The Pit in Albuquerque.