Daily Dimes - Tuesday, November 28th
What you need to know for Tuesday, November 28th in New Mexico High School basketball.
As the season progresses we will release weekly rankings, Rivals/NMPreps Mr. New Mexico candidates, playoff predictions, and many more features. Daily Dimes will be your quick view for the day.
Note: Today's Daily Dimes will not be posted to the front page due to football and the state championships.
STARTING LINE-UP: BEST FIVE GAMES TONIGHT
Albuquerque (1-0) at Rio Rancho (1-1): The matchup is normally a crowd pleaser and sort of this "rivalry" type of game. The first school in the Duke City vs the first school from the City of Vision. The head coaches Wally Salata (RR) and Ron Garcia (AHS) have the family history. Also, this contest highlights two Division-1 prospects in David Patterson (Air Force Academy/Mountain West) and Marlon Cunningham (New Mexico/Mountain West).
Atrisco Heritage (0-1) at Eldorado (1-0): Atrisco Heritage quickly had the followers name them as the favorite, they fell last week in a close but solid game against the 6A champion Volcano Vista Hawks. Do they rebound against another team looking for a peak year in Eldorado which features a few prospects on the rise? All eyes are on Kameron Valencia (Eldorado) along with big man Jordan Arroyo from Atrisco. The start of a slate of quality games this coming season in 6A basketball.
Hope Christian (0-0) at Valley (1-0): The Valley Vikings enter the season with little hype when they have a stellar guard that could be the top overall player when the season ends. He - Anthony Chavez - opened the season with a 30-point performance against Cibola last week in a win. However, we all know the test - some sort of test - comes when you face the 4A power in Hope Christian. They have continued to rule New Mexico. Does that power stay on opening night for the Huskies?
Los Lunas (1-0) at Kirtland Central (0-0): Two favorites in 5A basketball will square off in the four corners Tuesday night. Los Lunas brings the defense while Kirtland the up-tempo style. This could be one of the best KC teams, Los Lunas looking to return to the top of the classification. Bryson Dowdy for KC and Zanen Zeller for Los Lunas but both programs have a handful of x-factors that will be on the stat line.
Tularosa (0-0) at NMMI (1-0): When we dip into small school basketball the match up between southeast members brings an intrigue as Tularosa looks to build off a 17-12 season but will be young. NMMI hired longtime coach Sean Schooley who once coaches the Colts from 1992-1995 and provided a winning program during those years going 50-29.