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Farmington Scorpions edge Storm boys for title in Hobbs
CHS boys Steverson at Hobbs:Cleveland senior Daniel Steverson (5) takes to the air before dropping in a basket in the first quarter of the Hobbs Holiday Tournament championship game in Tasker Arena. (Photo by Jason Farmer)
HOBBS – Undefeated Farmington beat Cleveland 61-58 to win the 64th Hobbs Holiday Tournament on Dec. 30.
The 12-0 Scorpions finished strong with 23 points in the final period, including two 3-pointers by Landon Begay, who led FHS with 24 points. Cody Vassar-Steen added two baskets after a Begay trey to give the Scorpions the lead for good in the final minutes.
Cleveland (9-2) cut the lead to one point on a 3-pointer by Remy Albrecht and a steal and layup by Noah Padilla, but Scorpion free throws sealed the win for Farmington.
Daniel Steverson had 23 points and Padilla contributed 17 for the Storm.
“I thought our defense was the difference,” Farmington coach Larry Don Chitty said. “Steverson is a great player, but he was having to make two or three moves. He had to jump really high every time to shoot. He was having to work so hard to score. And our other guys today were better than they had been the last game.”
Cleveland started strong, with two baskets by Padilla giving the Storm a 4-0 lead. A basket by Steverson on the fast break extended the lead 10-4 before a three-pointer by Vassar-Steen brought Farmington to within three. A slippery layup by Albrecht helped Cleveland maintain its lead at the end of the period.
A seven-point performance by the Storm in the second period allowed Farmington to grab the lead. Vassar-Steen scored on an inside power hoop as well as a 3 from the right side of the arc to put Farmington up 20-19. Baskets by Mickey Beck and Willie Lander off Cleveland turnovers gave Farmington its largest lead of the half at 27-19.
“In the first half, we gave them about five offensive rebounds,” Cleveland coach Zack Cole said. “That’s 10-plus points right there. It’s also the third day of the tournament. Our legs were tired, and shots weren’t falling for us in the first half.”
The third period saw momentum swing again. Cleveland’s Padilla hit three treys, including two from the same corner. A Steverson jumper tied the game at 31 before a long trey by Vassar-Steen put Farmington back up by three points, 34-31. Just before the period’s end, Padilla banked in another 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 40-36 edge.
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Farmington’s Begay then asserted himself in the fourth period, scoring on back-to-back drives before hitting the first of two 3s in the period to help lead the Scorpions to the title and tournament trophy.
To get to the championship game, the Storm opened with a 79-52 win over Artesia, with Steverson scoring 26 points, Albrecht coming up with 16 and Padilla adding 11.
CHS then avenged a Dec. 16 loss to No. 1 Volcano Vista, 64-60, in a semifinal.
In that, Albrecht nailed a momentum-swinging 3-pointer with about 2 minutes to go and the second-ranked Storm hit crucial free throws in the waning seconds.
Steverson led the way with 23 points, Albrecht added 21 points and Padilla had 11 to lead the storm to the title tilt.
It was the fifth straight appearance in the championship game there; the Storm won the title in 2018, ’19 and ’22. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Last season, when the Storm won the Hobbs tourney, they beat Farmington by 30 in a semifinal. Next season, Farmington will be part of District 1-5A.
Volcano Vista routed Hobbs, 68-48, to finish third.
