Prep hoops tournaments headline busy final weekend of non-district season
- Piedra Vista girls basketball heads into district season with six-game win streak
- Kirtland Central Lady Broncos head into district on Tuesday at home against top-ranked Gallup
FARMINGTON — The final days of the non-district season wrapped up over the weekend with tournament action as well as regular season games for teams across the county.
The Hope Christian Tournament, featuring both Bloomfield and Shiprock High School's girls and boys teams, were highlighted by mixed results for those squads ahead of the opening of their respective district campaigns later this week.
Meantime, the Kirtland Central girls team is looking forward to their run at a district title, coming up with their third straight win on Thursday night.
Here's a look at all the latest prep basketball action.
Boys Basketball
Hope Christian Tournament
The Bloomfield High School boys basketball team wrapped up their non-district season with a loss in a consolation round game, falling to St. Pius by a final of 47-28.
The Bobcats fell behind early and never recovered, as the Sartans carried a 22-10 lead into the locker room at halftime after a 15-0 run from late in the first period through much of the second period sealed the Bobcats fate.
Bloomfield came up big in their second game of the tournament on Friday, knocking off Hot Springs 53-51 in overtime.
Bloomfield trailed that contest 23-20 at the half, but rallied with a strong third period and wound up tied at 47 at the end of regulation.
Bloomfield outscored the Tigers 6-4 in the overtime session to earn the win.
On Thursday, the Bobcats lost their tournament opener, coming up short against the host team by a final of 63-51.
The 1-2 mark in the tournament puts Bloomfield's record at 7-9 this season. They will have a chance to get back on a winning note when they open their district campaign at Shiprock on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Meantime, the Shiprock High boys basketball team lost all three of their games in the tournament, losing the seventh-place game on Saturday to Hot Springs by a final of 40-29.
That loss, along with Friday's defeat at the hands of St. Pius by a score of 73-31 and Thursday's opening round 73-27 defeat against Artesia, signals the end of the non-district campaign for the Chieftains, who finish that portion of their schedule with a record of 4-11 and riding a six-game losing streak.
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PIEDRA VISTA 66, Aztec 34
The Piedra Vista High School boys basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak and wrapped up their non-district campaign with a 66-34 romp at home over Aztec High School.
The Panthers (7-9) led 38-22 heading into the locker room at the half, then outscored the Tigers 10-3 in the third period to helped secure the victory.
More:Week prep sports results: Las Cruces boys 17-0
Aztec (4-12) falls for the third time in their last four games and will look to bounce back on Thursday at 7 p.m. when they open their district 1-4A season at home against Miyamura.
Piedra Vista hits the road on Tuesday to open their District 2-5A season against Eldorado.
Girls Basketball
Hope Christian Tournament
The Bloomfield High School girls basketball team wrapped up its non-district season on a losing note on Saturday, dropping their finale of the Hope Christian Tournament losing to the host team by a final of 62-48.
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The Lady Bobcats dropped two of three in the tournament, losing their second round game on Friday, falling to Taos 49-35.
A notable set of performances from the team's leading scorer Danielle Johnson, who scored 35 points in three tournament games, earned her a spot on the all-tournament team.
Johnson scored 12 in Saturday's game, to go along with 11 points in Friday's loss to Taos plus another 12 in the tournament opener on Thursday.
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Bloomfield won the opening game of the tournament on Thursday, beating West Las Vegas by a final of 65-22.
In the loss to Taos, Bloomfield got into foul trouble in the second half from which they never recovered.
"We played a great first half and a terrible third quarter," said Bloomfield coach Tom Adair. "We've got to find a way to cut down on turnovers and quit fouling."
The Lady Bobcats will open their District 1-4A campaign at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when they face Shiprock.
The Lady Chieftains earned a win in seventh place game of the Hope Christian Tournament, beating the host school's junior varsity team by a final of 45-24.
Shiprock lost their opening round game of the tournament, falling to St. Pius by a final of 61-36. In the second round, they lost to Hot Springs by a final of 41-34.
PIEDRA VISTA 63, Highland 53
The Lady Panthers of Piedra Vista will take a five-game win streak into the district campaign after knocking off the Highland Hornets 63-53 at the Jerry A. Conner Fieldhouse.
Piedra Vista (13-3) will open their district season on Tuesday at home against Eldorado.
PIEDRA VISTA 44, Albuquerque 40
The Piedra Vista girls basketball team appears to be headed in the right direction after a 44-40 win Friday night at home over Albuquerque High School.
Senior Lanae Billy, already the team's leading scorer and one of the top players in school history, continues to add to her legacy. Billy, averaging 22 points per game this season, is also one of the leading 3-point shot makers in the state this season.
Going into Friday night's game, Billy had successfully converted on 36 percent of her shots from beyond the arc, accounting for 37 treys, good for second-most in the state behind Bernalillo's Juliana Aragon with 41.
FARMINGTON 63, Valley 19
The Farmington Scorpion girls basketball team remains unbeaten and relatively untested after their final non-district game of the season, a blowout win on the road over Valley by a final of 63-19.
Led by Kiiyani Anitielu and her 21 points, the Lady Scorpions (16-0) have beaten their last pair of opponents by a combined margin of 85 points, outscoring them in the process 128-43.
Farmington also got scoring contributions from Komalani Anitielu, who scored 16 points and Audrey Henderson, who dropped in eight points of her own in the victory.
The top-ranked team in the state according to MaxPreps will open their district campaign on the road Tuesday at 7 p.m. when they face Sandia.
FARMINGTON 65, Atrisco Heritage 24
The Farmington High School girls basketball team ran their undefeated streak to 15 as they rolled past Atrisco Heritage by a final of 65-24 Friday night at the Scorpion Arena.
More:Unbeaten Lady Scorpions lead state polls heading into district play
KIRTLAND CENTRAL 38, Valencia 22
The Kirtland Central girls basketball team wrapped up the non-district portion of their season with a 38-22 victory at home Thursday night over Valencia.
The Broncos were led by junior Teghan Begay who scored 14 points, with senior Adriona Nargo getting nine points of her own to aid the victory.
The win is the Broncos third straight and improves Kirtland Central's record to 11-4 ahead of their first District 1-4A match, coming up Tuesday at 7 p.m. at home against Gallup.
Steve Bortstein can be reached via email at SBortstein@Gannett.com, via Twitter @DTSBortstein or on the phone at (505) 635-2680.