Rio Rancho eighth-grader pours in 41 points, but it’s not enough against Volcano Vista

RIO RANCHO – The night belonged to Madi Martinez.

The game belonged to No. 2-ranked Volcano Vista.

In a showdown for first place in District 1-5A girls basketball, the visiting Hawks, with a huge third quarter advantage, earned a 70-60 victory Thursday night over the 10th-ranked Rams.

Senior forward Taejhuan Hill scored a team-best 22 points and 10 rebounds for Volcano Vista (15-5, 3-0 in 1-5A), and the 3-point shooting from guards Faith Ortiz, Mila Espinoza and Lilliana Duncan were integral in a third quarter that saw the Hawks outscore Rio Rancho 25-9, a stretch of eight minutes that defined the game and more or less settled the outcome.

It was also the only quarter in which Martinez, an eighth-grader for Rio Rancho, was quiet.

Martinez had a remarkable evening, pouring in a season-high 41 points, about double her average.

“She had 41?” Hill said. “Wow.”

Martinez had 24 points by halftime, including all 18 of her team’s points in the second quarter, a quarter that ended with a 30-30 tie.

Volcano Vista coach Lisa Villareal’s message at halftime.

“Stop 21,” she said, referring to Martinez’s jersey number.

She scored three in the third quarter, then 14 more in the fourth quarter. Her previous season high in points was 24.

“Stud,” Rams coach Lori Mabrey said. “Madi is an incredible basketball player, and really mature for her grade level. She works on her game all the time, and it shows. More importantly, she just doesn’t fear anybody. She has that moxie to her … and she has her best games in big games.”

Martinez is a piece of what represents a bright future for Rio Rancho (14-7, 2-1), a team that starts just one senior. The Rams’ starting lineup is extremely young, but they’ve shown flashes all season of what they are now and what they could become.

Volcano Vista got a taste of that in the first half, but in a theme that has been oft-repeated during Hawks coach Lisa Villareal’s tenure on the West Side, the third quarter proved pivotal.

“We found a lot of openings, and we had some wide-open shots and the girls came through,” Villareal said.

Ortiz and Duncan canned early 3s to start the second half. The Hawks scored 12 of the first 14 points of the third quarter. Espinoza added a 3; moments later, Ortiz buried another one, this one from really long range, and the lead was 52-36 late in the quarter.

Martinez’s only points of the quarter came at the end, a 24-footer to cut the deficit to 55-39. Hill said Volcano Vista switched up its press defense, which contributed heavily to the Hawks getting out to a big lead.

And much as Martinez tried to get the Rams single handedly back into the game in the fourth quarter — and she achieved this to a degree, with a three-point play and a layup to make it 67-60 with 2:25 remaining — there was too much hill to climb for Rio Rancho.

“She’s really good,” Hill said. “She can shoot the heck out of the rock, and she can get to the basket, too.”

Ultimately, it was Espinoza who supplied the dagger for Volcano Vista, a 3-pointer with 1:44 to go, the game’s final points.

Mabrey lamented the third quarter.

“We have about a three-minute stretch every time with us with the big dogs,” she said. “I don’t know what the answer is for us to fix that.”