Mayfield boys basketball and 5A hoops

If you missed last Saturday's Mayfield/Manzano first round state basketball tournament game, then you missed a dandy.

Mayfield rallied from 12 points down in the second half and beat the Monarchs 78-74 in triple overtime.

Both teams gave a tremendous effort and made big play after big play, which is supposed to happen in state tournament games.

Mayfield has quietly had a great year in prep basketball. The team doesn't really have what you would call a superstar, but rather eight or nine guys that can get the job done.

Also, the team didn't have any players from the state champion football team come out and help and plus after last year, forward Jeremy Roman transferred to Mesilla Valley Christian, where he has helped the team to a No. 1 seed in Class 2A.

Head coach Tommy Morrow and his staff have done a wonderful of getting the team to play tough defense and putting the team in the best position with his personnel.

The 18-8 Trojans will meet No. 14 Gallup on Wednesday night at the Pit in Albuquerque. Gallup stunned No. 3 Highland on the road on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals for the second straight year.

Gallup head coach John Zecca said 10,000 fans from Gallup might make it on Wednesday night, giving the Bengals a big time advantage.

Gallup reached the quarterfinals for the second straight year as a lower seed. Last year it was a No. 10 seed when it won its first round game at Eldorado on the road to advance to meet Hobbs.

The Trojans/Bengals matchup might not be as big in terms of name recognition as some of the other quarterfinal matchups. But the game should be close.

Mayfield has beaten some decent teams from up north this year, including Cibola, Los Lunas and Manzano.

Gallup played in a tough district with Rio Rancho, Cibola and West Mesa.

One of the more intriguing battles of the quarterfinal round is No. 10 Albuquerque High and No. 2 Hobbs. The two have combined to win 27 state titles and have played in some of the best games in state tournament history.

Hobbs reached the semifinals last year and won four straight titles from 1999-2002. But AHS, which last won a state title in 1998, has struggled in recent year. But head coach Ron Garcia has the team on the upward swing and last week, the Bulldogs stunned No. 7 Los Lunas on the road.

The Hobbs/AHS game is at 4:45 on Wednesday. The Gallup/Mayfield game is slated for 8:15 p.m.

- Felix