State quarterfinals recap: basketball season comes to close

The 2026 New Mexico Basketball State Championship quarterfinals took place on Wednesday, March 11, at Bernalillo High School for Class A schools. The full day of eight basketball games alternated back and forth between boys’ games and girls’ games. 

From neighboring Catron County, the #6 seed Quemado Lady Eagles took on the #3 seed Roy/Mosquero Blue. Every game in the girls’ bracket was competitive that day, with the biggest win being by only six points. In a late comeback, the Roy/Mosquero team bested Quemado by four points. The Blue went on to be runner-up in the tournament after losing to #1 Logan 48-36 in the championship game.

Socorro County was represented by the Alamo Cougars and the Magdalena Steers in the boys’ bracket. The #5 seed Cougars faced the #4 seed Melrose Buffaloes while the #7 seed Steers drew a rematch against the #2 seed Fort Sumner/House Foxes. 

There were no upsets in the boys’ bracket that quarterfinals day as all of the higher seeded teams controlled the courts and advanced. In fact, there were no upsets in the entire boys’ bracket at all until the championship game of the tournament, when #2 Fort Sumner/House edged out #1 Logan 66-63. 

So the boys from Alamo and Magdalena didn’t come away with big wins they might have hoped for on March 11, but they at least capped off their exciting seasons with trips to the second round of state. The younger players on these teams gained valuable playoff experience to mentally prepare for their future basketball seasons.

“I’m working on getting better. I work with the team and get better with the team. We want to work on getting better and more dominant for next year,” #20 JW Hunter, a freshman on the Steers team, said.

Final scores for local teams in the quarterfinals:

Roy/Mosquero Blue 59 - Quemado Lady Eagles 55

Fort Sumner/House 63 - Magdalena Steers 44

Melrose Buffaloes 68 - Alamo Cougars 45