Long time Albuquerque High School girls basketball head coach and former Cibola head coach got his 400th career win tonight.

Who are the candidates and why?

3A GIRLS BASKETBALL: PIT STOP (WEEK 10)

NMPreps.com’s look at the potential match-ups for the 2019 New Mexico High School Basketball State Tournament.

Current District Standings

District 1-3A
Crownpoint – District Champion
Navajo Prep - DRUP
Tohatchi - DRUP
Thoreau – D4P
Wingate – D4P
Zuni – D6P

District 2-3A
Robertson – District Champion
Santa Fe Indian - DRUP
West Las Vegas – D3P
St. Michael’s – D4P
Raton – D5P
Santa Fe Prep – D6P

District 3-3A
Hatch Valley – District Champion
Socorro - DRUP
Cobre – D3P
Hot Springs – D4P

District 4-3A
Tucumcari – District Champion
Tularosa - DRUP
Dexter – D3P

District 5-3A
Sandia Prep – District Champion
Laguna-Acoma - DRUP
Cuba - DRUP
Bosque – D4P
CCP – D5P
East Mountain – D6P

Independent: NMMI


STATE TOURNAMENT PREDICTIONS

HOST A FIRST ROUND GAME

1. Robertson
2. Santa Fe Indian
3. Tucumcari
4. Hatch Valley
5. West Las Vegas
6. Tularosa
7. Socorro
8. Crownpoint

Tucumcari sits behind Santa Fe Indian, but that could change given how close their Maxpreps rankings are (separated by 0.1 point). So we could see Tucumcari jump ahead to the 2-seed in the coming weeks. Hatch Valley is likely at their ceiling right now as far as seeding goes at that 4-seed. West Las Vegas has enough to stay ahead of Tularosa with the head-to-head (H2H) win and the higher rating. Behind Tulie, is Socorro and they’re capped off as well but could fall if Navajo Prep can claim of share of first place in their district. That would bump Socorro back to the 8-seed. Crownpoint, even if they claim the district outright, couldn’t finish any higher than the 8-seed.


NEXT FOUR
9. Navajo Prep
10. Tohatchi
11. Thoreau
12. St. Michael’s

Again, a lot relies on the result of Tohatchi at Crownpoint tonight for Navajo Prep if they can claim a share of the district title to move up from the 9-seed to the 7-seed. Tohatchi still has a shot at the home court as an 8-seed if they can get Navajo Prep a share as they have enough to jump ahead of Socorro. Thoreau can stay ahead of St. Michael’s for now, but the Lady Horsemen still have a slight shot at moving ahead of the Lady Hawks to the 11-seed. At the present, St. Michael’s doesn’t have enough on their resume to move up further than the 11-seed.


BUBBLE
13. Cobre
14. Wingate
15. Sandia Prep
16. Laguna-Acoma

Cobre gets the 13-seed and have the important benefit of having their Maxpreps rankings serve as a tiebreaker with Wingate, Cuba, Sandia Prep, and Laguna-Acoma. If they drop, or the other teams move up, they could find themselves out of the tournament. Wingate has the lock against every school from District 5 for the time being. They’re in even if Cobre falls out due to rankings change. District 5 is a bit tricky. At the moment, Sandia Prep has a half-game lead on the district spot after Laguna-Acoma upended Cuba in the Hawks’ Nest. Laguna-Acoma’s tournament bid stayed alive with that win. They’ll need Cuba to lose to Sandia Prep to stay ahead in the district standings.


FIRST FOUR OUT
17. Cuba
18. Bosque
19. CCP
20. Zuni

Cuba needs to win Friday night at home against Sandia Prep to keep their playoff hopes alive. It’s the best chance they’ll have at keeping control of their own fate. Bosque needs some chaos and wins in district. Same goes for CCP. Zuni, a long shot, might need the district tournament to get in through half of their district season already been played.

Silver Colt Tristin Moore signed his letter of intent to play for Western New Mexico University last night.

Thursday Outlet Pass
With most of the big schools off tonight, there's a few notable small school games to highlight in this week's Outlet Pass. But first, Wednesday.


Wednesday's Notable Scores

Cleveland 48 Atrisco Heritage 26

Rio Rancho 60 Cibola 34
-Cibola showed some grit early keeping it close through much of the first half.

La Cueva 49 Eldorado 45
-Ingram was well-guarded but the freshmen helped get the win in this one.

Albuquerque 67 Rio Grande 16
-Coach Dorame's 400th Career Win

Manzano 51 Santa Fe 38
-Sets up a big game between Manzano and Capital for 3rd place.


Wednesday’s Top Player Performances

Teona Savic, La Cueva (Fr.) – 21 points vs. Eldorado


Tonight’s Key Games

#14 Los Alamos at #10 Espanola Valley

This is a pivotal district game for each of these two teams. Espanola Valley (10-8) comes in heavily favored especially after having given Pojoaque Valley a tough game. Los Alamos (8-11) is the district sleeper and have made games tough for tougher opponents. The Lady Hilltoppers like attacking the interior with Natalie Gallegos but they’ll have a test in guarding the perimeter with the likes of Espanola Valley’s Kaylinn Martinez’s district shooting streak. Keep a district watch on this one.


#11 Tohatchi at #10 Crownpoint

Another critical game here with Crownpoint (12-8) the surprise team leading the 1-3A pack after winning six straight games and so far undefeated in district play. Tohatchi (9-11) comes in with one loss at home versus Navajo Prep, and in order to maintain a share of the district regular season title, Tohatchi needs this win. Not only that, but there’s some seeding implications too for Navajo Prep and Tohatchi should Tohatchi win. As always keep an eye on Tohatchi’s Cameron Tsosie and Genae Morris. Crownpoint’s Tiandra Stevenson and Tori Tsosie are two to watch on the Lady Eagles’ side.


#6 Cliff at #4 Animas

The first district game is going to be one to watch. Animas (14-5) back at home, starts off their district run and are hoping for the continued quality play of Tierney Washburn. Meanwhile for Cliff (13-6) they’re hoping to end a four-game losing streak and right the ship for district play. They’ll need a game from Kaitlyn Trotter and Jamie Jenkins.


#9 Roy/Mosquero at #11 Des Moines

The Lady Blues of Roy/Mosquero (10-2) look to kick off their district run with a win on the road at Des Moines (10-7). Despite having only five players suited up, night in and night out this season, Roy/Mosquero find themselves in Class 1A’s Top Ten. With the surprising big loss to Cimarron, Des Moines will look to rebound with a win and will likely try to use their depth to cut down the Roy/Mosquero talent.


Monte Del Sol at Desert Academy-Santa Fe Waldorf (Co-op)

Not a top-ranked matchup but definitely one both teams are looking forward to given their current winless records. The winner of this district game will get their first win of the season.


Feel free to share any important games tonight or notes on games from last night I may have missed.

Post game reactions here

TUESDAY QUICK REACTIONS

SCORES
Artesia 72, Roswell 67
Bernalillo 59, Valley 58
Chaparral 52, Hot Springs 50
Clovis 72, Goddard 62
Del Norte 63, Albuquerque Academy 55
Deming 67, Centennial 50
Durango, CO 32, Bloomfield 29
Eldorado 71, Piedra Vista 45
Grants 38, St. Pius X 37
Hobbs 102, Lovington 34
Hope Christian 89, Highland 63
La Cueva 77, Farmington 39
Las Cruces 63, Onate 48
Mayfield 70, Gadsden 50
Portales 50, Carlsbad 48
Rio Rancho 88, West Mesa 61
Silver 71, Cobre 44
Texico 56, Ruidoso 51
Valencia 60, Belen 52
Volcano Vista 58, Cleveland 57

Keys: Road to the PIT
Del Norte over Albuquerque Academy, 63-55: Using a big second quarter the Del Norte Knights earned a big resume win. Also, the win, for tonight, puts them in a better situation and seed in the state tournament.

Grants over St. Pius X, 38-37: Staying in the 4A bracket chatter the Grants Pirates are another team on the rise with the win. Grants was flirting on the bubble as of the morning but by bedtime they could climb back into the top-10 conversation.

Volcano Vista over Cleveland, 58-57: Another one point win to open district play in New Mexico. The Volcano Vista Hawks led by Cesar Madrid's 14 points topped the No. 1 team Cleveland. Top player in New Mexico Jaloantae Gray hit the game winning jumper for the Hawks in the win over 4.5 seconds. Aamer Muhammad paced the way for the Cleveland Storm with 19 points.

Artesia over Roswell, 72-67: A healthy dog, as the Artesia Bulldogs are back on the mend and looking to make their late push into the postseason. This one is a big resume win for the former district foes.

Top Players From Tuesday
Isaiah Dockery - Hope Christian - 24 points vs Highland
Kameron Valencia - Eldorado - 21 points vs Piedra Vista
Aamer Muhammad - Cleveland - 19 points vs Volcano Vista
Cameron Carter - Eldorado - 17 points vs Piedra Vista.
Cesar Madrid - Volcano Vista - 14 points vs Cleveland.

Post stat lines and players here for Week Nine or text (281)-475-9953.

Congrats to Ben Schoneman, La Cueva, for being named CB's pre-season All-American Second Team.

Cathedral (El Paso, TX): Cathedral HS (About 30 players on the roster) is looking for a possible game for week 2 (September 5,6,7,) for 2019 football season. Please contact Athletic Director Carlos Puertas at cpuertas98@cathedral-elpaso.org if interested.

Post them.

WLV is looking for a game on September 27th, 2019. Call coach Gonzales @ (505)429-2183

4A Girls Basketball: PIT STOP (WEEK 10)

NMPreps.com's look at the potential match-ups for the 2019 New Mexico High School Basketball State Tournament.

DISTRICT PREDICTIONS

District 1-4A
Kirtland Central - District Co-Champion
Gallup - DRUP
Miyamura - D3P
Aztec - D4P
Shiprock - D5P
Bloomfield - D6P

District 2-4A
Pojoaque Valley - District Champion
Espanola Valley - DRUP
Los Alamos - D3P
Moriarty - D4P
Taos - D5P

District 3-4A
Silver - District Champion
Santa Teresa - DRUP
Ruidoso - D3P
Chaparral - D4P

District 4-4A
Portales - District Co-Champion
Goddard - District Co-Champion
Artesia - D3P
Lovington - D4P

District 5-4A
Los Lunas - District Champion
St. Pius X - DRUP
Belen - T-D3P
Grants - T-D3P
Valencia - D5P


STATE TOURNAMENT PREDICTIONS

HOST A FIRST ROUND GAME
1. Los Lunas
2. Kirtland Central
3. Pojoaque Valley
4. Gallup
5. St. Pius X
6. Silver
7. Miyamura
8. Highland

For a moment, a small moment, there was a slight chance at a three-way tie for the top spot. Not so much anymore. Los Lunas has it with, I'd say, about 90% probability given zero losses moving forward. There was a mess I have to mention. Silver had Gallup and SPX beat but Highland had Silver beaten-ish in the criteria points. It was actually a 2-2-2 split between Highland and Silver. But to avoid the whole convoluted explanation, this is what it came down to. But know there's a lot of room from the 4-seed to the 8-seed for teams to shift.

NEXT FOUR
9. Portales
10. Goddard
11. Espanola Valley
12. Artesia

Again, the assumption is that Portales and Goddard tie it up for first. But that's just the prediction. If Artesia makes this interesting it could get a little bit more messy here. Espanola Valley can move up but needs the wins in district to help boost their resume across all the criteria points.

BUBBLE
13. Hope Christian
14. Valley
15. Belen
16. Aztec

Yup. I was a little taken aback too. Hope Christian clear back at the 13-seed. It threw me for a loop, but I checked the rankings this morning and lo and behold they dropped back to 12th in Maxpreps' computer rankings. For now of course that's where they're projected to be. At the back end, Valley is safe given that they don't lose to Bernalillo and stay in 3rd place in district. But another mess comes into play with Belen and Grants. The two district opponents haven't met yet, but it could likely come down to H2H matchups. If Grants gets ahead, Belen gets the 16-seed. Done deal. If Belen gets ahead, we have a 3-way tie between Los Alamos, Aztec, and Grants with Aztec coming out on top for the time being. There's still plenty of season left to play.

FIRST FOUR OUT
17. Los Alamos
18. Grants
19. Bernalillo
20. Shiprock

***Had some issues running it on the front page.

Colin Flood-LB, Artesia, Nm, Offer Western Colorado

A few major matchups to start off the week right, here's your Tuesday Night Lineup.

#12 Alamogordo at #17 Deming
Deming (1-4) is sitting in sixth place overall at the moment and need a win after losing two straight. A home game against the second place Alamogordo Lady Tigers (4-1) is the last of the first half stretch of district games Deming has. Alamogordo comes in winning five straight behind Faith Silva's scoring efforts. Deming will need to contain Silva and get a big game from their own freshman star, Harmanie Dominguez.

#1 Hobbs at Roswell
Hobbs (19-1) start off their new district run on the road in Roswell (6-13), the former coaching grounds of the Lady Eagles' head coach, Joe Carpenter. Roswell has gotten better as the season progressed, but they needed more than a 4-5 January to get them out of their sub-.500 hole. Roswell's best player this season has been Cheyenne Martinez, but it'll take more than her to get outscore the explosive Hobbs' offense. It'll be another healthy dose of team production between Hobbs' Amiah Smith, Wisdom Anthony, MacKenzye Gibson, and Ayanna Smith.

#16 Aztec at #18 Shiprock
Both teams are still in the race for that last playoff spot (before having to rely on a auto-bid by winning the district tournament). Both teams are coming in even at 1-1 in district play with lone wins over Bloomfield, but it's Aztec (8-10) that's coming in the hottest with a 5-2 record so far through January. Shiprock (7-11) on the other hand struggled through much of the season but believe they've found a rhythm to their offense with Tayya Dale and Kimora Tso. Key game to see who jumps into that fourth spot in district. Also, Aztec is currently on a 12-game losing streak to Shiprock dating back to January 2008. The Lady Tigers will look to Bessie Davis, Jessi Gillentine, and Reigan Weaver to end the streak tonight.

#1 Los Lunas at #11 St. Pius X
These two met recently in the Hope Christian tournament where Los Lunas (16-3) got a 16-point win over St. Pius (13-4) to advance to the tournament championship. St. Pius is the only team with double-digit wins averaging the fewest points per game at just over 40 (40.4 ppg). But defense has been their calling card all season long, holding teams to under an average of 35 points per game. It might take more than defense though to keep pace with Los Lunas, who head into this game on a 9-0 win streak versus St. Pius since 2013. Player watch includes St. Pius' Amelia Gallegos and Marissa Lovato and Los Lunas' Natalie Jojola and Dani Ross.

#3 Highland at #17 Valley
Two teams new to Class 4A are Highland (10-6) and Valley (10-6). Highland is one of the class favorites with the Crawford sisters and company providing defensive issues and mismatches offensively. Valley has been a little under the radar given their metro heavy schedule. They boast speed and high energy in their small-ball lineup. This could be a very emotionally intense game given the two schools' fanbases and that Highland has won four straight meetings against Valley for the past two years. Keep tabs on the Valley backcourt duo of Analysia Moya, and Milli Vigil. And don't forget the talents of Highland's Cailee Crawford.

#11 Des Moines at #12 Cimarron
The Des Moines Lady Demons (10-6) come into this matchup on a two-game win streak. Cimarron (8-8) have won four of their last five with their lone loss being a 6-point loss to 2A contender, Penasco. This game is likely between the two likeliest teams to win the district (Roy/Mosquero is good but lacks depth with only 5 players on the roster). The last time these two met was this past season at Clayton's Orange and Black tournament for the consolation championship which Des Moines won by ten. This one should be a lot closer. Key players for Cimarron will be Angel Gonzales and Zoe Salazar. Des Moines' key players will be Angie Lopez and Grace Hall.


Other Games To Note,

#8 Navajo Prep at Thoreau: Another good test for Prep and a must-win home stand for Thoreau.

#1 Pine Hill at Jemez Valley: Maybe their first and only test in district on the road for Pine Hill.

(1A) #4 Animas at (2A) #6 Lordsburg: Less than a week and Animas returns the favor by traveling to Lordsburg for the inter-class rematch.


NMPREPS.COM GAME OF THE NIGHT

#2 West Mesa at #7 Farmington
Farmington (18-3) now sit atop (along with PV) the district standings at 2-0 and host a West Mesa team who lost their first game of the season down the road at Piedra Vista. West Mesa (16-1) will look to bounce back but it's another tough road trip for them in the early week. Farmington could play a similar game plan against West Mesa much like how Piedra Vista did. Both teams use their size and have quicker bigs than most especially Farmington's Jordan Vasquez and Chloe Finch. It'll come down to the guards again though as we'll see if Farmington can defend the likes of West Mesa's Maiah Rivas, Esperanza Varoz, and Emily Burk. It'll be a fun up-and-down the court game to see. Given both team's propensity to score, I'll call this a race to 60 points.

Benito Garcia has signed with Western Arizona College.

Marcus Maldonado has signed with Northeastern JC in Sterling, CO. Big time juice in his bat!