Logan advances in tourney

LOGAN - The Logan boys basketball team roared to leads of 15-2 in the first quarter and 42-17 at halftime during a 79-45 victory Saturday over Cimarron in the first round of the Class 1A tournament.

The fourth-seeded Longhorns (21-7) advanced to face fifth-seeded Melrose (22-7) at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Bernalillo High School. The district rivals went 2-2 against each other this season, with Melrose winning the last matchup 74-65 on Feb. 28.

The winner of that game plays the winner of the Quernado-Gateway Christian game at 4:45 p.m. Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. The championship will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Dreamstyle Arena at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

After the game, Logan point guard Dyson Day - who scored a game-high 27 points - knelt to kiss the Longhorns logo in the middle of his gym's floor. The transfer from Dalhart, Texas, was one of five Logan seniors who played their final home game. The others were Kyle Knight, Chase Hittson, Chase Earle and Kyle Hamilton.

Logan coach Kyle Griffiths observed Day had a big game Saturday because Cimarron didn't devote overly much attention to him.

"This was the first game in about six weeks where someone hadn't run some sort of junk defense against him," Griffiths said. "Tonight, they didn't, so it kinda freed him up."

Cimarron coach Daniel Vigil said he didn't feel confident about concentrating a lot of team resources to one opposing player.

"Logan's just a team that's solid," he said. "We tried to play man-to-man and try to help each other as best as possible and play team basketball against them. They can shoot, they can play inside, and they hustle. They're a heck of a team."

Sophomore Dante Sanchez added 17 points for the Longhorns.

The 13th-seeded Rams, who ended their season 17-12, were led by Matthew Dean's 13 points and Cullen O'Neill's 12.

Logan jumped to a 10-2 lead less than two minutes into the game, prompting a timeout by Vigil. However, the Rams struggled to find open shots and trailed 22-7 by the end of the first quarter.

"Logan spreads the floor with their defense and help really well," Vigil said. "It gave us a little bit of trouble."

Griffiths acknowledged his team's defense played a big role in the victory.

"We came out with a lot of energy, particularly in the first half," he said. "We relaxed a little bit in the third quarter, and they got some easy looks. But for the most part, we played hard and never gave them anything that was easy."

The Rams rallied to reduce the Longhorns' lead to 50-30 midway through the third quarter. Logan responded with a 15-4 run the build the lead to 30.

Logan buried eight 3-point shots during the game, while Cimarron converted one.

After the game, Griffiths looked ahead to another clash against Melrose.

"We know we can beat them," he said. "If we come out and play our game, we'll come out on top."