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A good number of fans left Bulldog City early in the fourth quarter of the Albuquerque Metro Basketball Championship men’s final between Volcano Vista and Sandia on Saturday night.
They almost missed out on a spectacular comeback.
Third-placed Sandia fell 17 points behind first-placed Volcano Vista with six minutes to go, but the relentless Matador almost pulled back. They came close to one with six seconds left, but time ran out as the undefeated Hawks narrowly survived the Sandia 69-66 in a heated Metro final at crowded Albuquerque High.
“We know they’re tough,” said Volcano Vista’s 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Kenyon Agino. “The last few times (we played against them) they attacked us and we knew they would come back to us. And they did.
Volcano Vista (15-0) are on a 44-game winning streak leading into the 2021-22 season opener.
The 44th looked formal as the Hawks took a 56-39 lead with six minutes remaining. Then Sandia (11-3)—specifically guards Darren Moyer and Andrew Hill—but in the final stretch Jim Halsman in his run from all over his court. I was.
Combined, those two made five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and three 3-pointers in the final 27 seconds. With Hill his second, followed by Moyer, the Matadors closed his 17-point gap to 67-66 with six seconds remaining.
Volcano Vista called timeout with 2 seconds remaining. The Hawks threw an inbounds pass far down the court, where Devon Ramos was fouled. He made two free throws with 0.3 seconds marking the final margin. All of his nine points for Ramos came in the fourth quarter.
“At Sandia, anything is possible,” said Volcano Vista coach Greg Brown. “They’re explosive. They can score a lot of points in a short amount of time. We just had to hang in there and weather the storm.”
The Matadors are 0-3 against Volcano Vista this season, losing by 6, 4, 3 points. Sandia is 11-0 against everyone else.
The Matador got off to a quick start on Saturday night. The game was tied at 26 when the Volcano Vistas scored the final 7 of the first half with 4:25 at the end of the second quarter. Aguino went to work in the third quarter. In one stretch, he scored 10 straight points for the Hawks to a 47–32 advantage late in the quarter.
Sandia was 9 down with 33 seconds remaining.
Greg’s brother, Sandia’s coach Danny Brown, said, “I’m very proud of my peers. There are a lot of good teams out there, but I feel we’re there.”
Volcano Vista 69, Sandia 66
Volcano Vista (15-0): EJ Jordan 4, Anthony Gonzalez 8, Hudson Brown 5, Devon Ramos 9, Ryan Gonzalez 6, Kenyon Aguino 25, Sean Alter 12. Total 24 16-21 69.
Sandia (11-3): Andrew Hill 23, Jermyl Johnson 3, Darren Moyer 15, Thomas Adams 7, Lamarion Coleman 9, Ely Lovato 9. Total 25 6-11 66.
Volcano Vista 20 13 17 19 — 69
Sandia 18 8 10 30 — 66
3-point goals: VV 5 (R. Gonzalez 2, Ramos, Brown, A. Gonzalez); S 10 (Hill 4, Moyer 3, Lovato, Adams, Johnson). Total fouls: VV 13; S19.
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