Class AAAA quarterfinal: No. 1 Española Valley vs. No. 8 Albuquerque St. Pius X

About 12,000 are in The Pit right now and already the Española crowd is into it. The player introductions are beginning and the crowd has come to life for the Sundevils.
Here we go.

First quarter
Both teams have come out firing here in the first quarter. Matthew Brito needed all of 10 seconds to hoist up a 3 to give the Sundevils a 3-0 lead. St. Pius hit its first four shots, and took a 17-11 lead with 2:04 left.
Española charged back, though, by scoring the last four points of the quarter.
St. Pius 17, Española 15.

Second quarter
Fouls are becoming a problem for the Sundevils. Brito picked up his second at the 4:05 mark, then Donovan Maldonado gets No. 2 at 2:57. The Sartans build the lead up to 28-23 at one point before a 4-0 run gets Española to within 28-27 at the half.
In Class AA, Pecos is trailing 30-22 to Santa Rosa at the half.

Third quarter
The Sundevils explode to start the third. Brito hits a spinning layup, then dishes to Gabe Rodriguez for two and then tips in Ray Romero's miss off of a steal.
It is 34-28, Española, 5:08 to go.
Free throws, free throws, free throws. The Sartans are getting to the foul line, but failing to convert. They missed three straight freebies. Brito is playing out of his mind, scoring eight points in the quarter.
Española 40, St. Pius 34.

Fourth quarter
Matthew Brito will not let the Sundevils lose. He nailed a 16-foot fadeaway to give Española a 44-39 lead with 5:51 left. He now has 17 points.
Timeout, Española. 5:10 left.
The Sartans come back, as Calvin Farmer grabs an airball and puts it back in. Timeout, Pius.
46-41, Sundevils.
Brito does it again. He drives from the wing and hits a 10-foot runner off the glass for 48-41. Here comes Pius, though. Ryan Myers hits a layup then comes a Sartans steal and Myers is fouled on a drive. He hits two freebies. 48-45, 3:31 to go.
An Alvarado layup makes it 50-45, but Pius scores six straight points. The last coming on a drive by Jacob Garcia with 1:25 to go. Before that Ray Romero missed a wide-open layup. Shades of 2008?
Myers loses the ball to Ray Romero with 39.1 seconds to go. Both teams trade time outs.
51-50, St. Pius. 25.8 seconds left.
It's up to Brito and he is fouled on the drive, but misses the layup. He hits the free throws with :18.2 to go. St. Pius uses its last timeout.
Both teams are in the bonus, but the Sartans are in the double bonus. 10.7 to go.
Española 52, St. Pius 51.
Maldonado steals the ball! Intentional foul on Josh Lujan for St. Pius. Maldonado misses two!
Brito fouled, and hits two.
54-51, Española
The Sundevils nearly steal the ball twice in the final 7.8 seconds, but the Sartans hang on to it.
Calvin Farmer's 3 is off the back of the rim at the buzzer.
Española 54, St. Pius 51.
The Sundevils move on to play Artesia in the AAAA semifinals.