Mayfield boys advance to 5A boys semis

Trojans in Class 5A boys semis after win against
Gallup
By Felix Chavez
Sun-News reporter
ALBUQUERQUE - Nobody gave the Mayfield Trojans much
of a chance of reaching the semifinals of the Class 5A
high school boys basketball tournament this season.
On Wednesday night, the 6th-seeded Trojans proved
those disbelievers wrong, knocking off No. 14 Gallup
in a 62-56 thriller at the Pit.
“This team is scrappy,” Mayfield guard Artie Villa
said. “We believe in ourselves and we showed that
tonight.”
The Trojans are now 19-8 on the year and will play No.
2 Hobbs tonight at 8:15. The other semifinal pits No.
2 Clovis vs. No. 5 La Cueva at 4:45 p.m. The two
semifinal winners meet on Saturday night at 8:30 for
the title.
Gallup’s season ends at 18-12.
“I was happy to make the top five,” Mayfield head
coach Tommy Morrow said. “For us to make the final
four is a great accomplishment.”
Mayfield, which has won eight straight games, will be
making its fourth appearance in the Final Four. The
last one came in 2002 when the team finished second.
Mayfield surged out of the halftime break with
confidence and it showed. The Trojans made 10 of 18
from the field and outscored Gallup 28-11 to take a
52-42 lead entering the fourth. The Trojans scored the
first seven points of the half and it seemed as if
everyone contributed in some way.
Point guard Luis Quinones hit two treys and had eight
points, guard Artie Villa chipped with seven points
and backup point guard Jacob Ortiz had four points.
“We didn’t panic at halftime,” Quinones said. “We knew
if we came out and cleaned up some things, we’d do
fine. We executed on both ends of the court.”
Villa led MHS with 15 points, guard Art Borunda had 13
and Quinones had 12, all in the second half. The
Trojans shot 48 percent from the field in the second
16 minutes.
But Gallup, which rallied from a 12-point deficit in
the second half to unseat No. 3 Highland week, came
back in the fourth quarter behind junior Alfonso
Hubbard.
Hubbard scored eight points and guard Rulon Benally
hit a 3-pointer to help bring the Bengals back to
within 58-56 with 1:56 left. Hubbard led Gallup with
20 points.
But the resilient Trojans had the final laugh. Borunda
scored on a drive with 1:31 left and after a Gallup
turnover, Quinones scored on another drive to the
basket with 1:07 for the final margin. Gallup tried
desperately to close the gap in the final minute, but
missed several shots from 3-point range.
Mayfield struggled mightily from the field in the
first half and was fortunate to be down just 31-24 at
the break.
The Trojans were just 7-for-28 from the field,
including a 2-for-13 struggle in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Gallup was 11-for-25 from the field and
took a 22-10 lead early in the second quarter behind
3-pointers from Chandler James and Benally.
But the Trojans came back with seven straight points
to cut the lead to 22-17 on baskets by Villa, Jon
Allen and Borunda.
Gallup built its lead back up to 31-21, but a
3-pointer by Mayfield’s Javier Ybarra cut the deficit
to 31-24.
Borunda was the only Trojan basketball player with
success from the field, going 4-for-4 from the field
and scoring eight points.
The Trojans had just four turnovers, but missed
several layups and 6 of 15 free throws.
Gallup got 10 points from Zach Troncoso and seven from
Hubbard.
Tonight’s game with Hobbs will be a rematch of their
Dec. 21 battle in Hobbs, a game the Trojans lost
83-43.
“We’re a different team than back in December,”
Quinones said. “We’re playing better, we’ll give it
our best shot.”
Gallup 16 15 11 14 - 56
Mayfield 10 14 28 10 -62
Gallup
Raydel Jones 1-3 1-2 3, Rulon Benally 2-4 0-0 6, Zach
Troncosco 5-10 5-7 15, Alfonso Hubbard 9-17 2-2 20,
Armando Segovia 0-1 0-0 0, Alexander James 0-1 0-0 0,
Chandler James 2-6 1-2 6, Ryan Acothley 0-5 0-2 0,
Ryan Becenti 0-1 0-0 0, Anthony Grant 0-1 0-0 0,
William Porch 2-4 2-4 6. Totals 21-53 11-20 56.
Mayfield
Jacob Ortiz 2-3 0-1 4, Art Borunda 6-10 1-1 13, Luis
Quinones 3-7 4-4 12, Oscar Robles 0-3 2-2 2, Estefano
Vargas 0-3 0-0 0, Artie Villa 5-13 4-5 15, Jeremiah
Willis 0-2 0-2 0, Jon Allen 2-4 1-4 5, Javier Ybarra
2-5 0-0 5, Nathan Abeyta-Robles 0-5 6-7 6. Totals
20-55 18-26 62.
Felix Chavez can be reached at fchavez@lcsun-news.com