UPSET MINDED (Upset Pick): (12) REHOBOTH CHRISTIAN AT (5) ESTANCIA
I really like Rehoboth's odds. Especially with their height against Estancia. Now of course, I think Estancia fans will be all out in the stands on Friday (they don't have travel plans on Saturday) so it'll make for some tense energy there. Of course, Rehoboth struggles at times, but with the kind of games they've won, both close and low-scoring, I think the Lynx can pull this one off.
INTRIGUING GAME: (13) NEWCOMB AT (4) DULCE
I'm not the biggest fan of first round games being district repeats, but this one could prove to be more interesting than the first time around. Newcomb has defeated Dulce once before this season and it took overtime to pull that one off in Newcomb. The second time not so much by Newcomb as Dulce went on to win convincingly. But in the district tournament championship, Dulce won by only two points, at home! Now with the pressure of the state tournament and being back home, I'm curious if Dulce comes out tense. I know Newcomb Coach McLaughlin probably doesn't like the return trip, but he knows Dulce is beatable with the team he has.
FINAL FOUR SURPRISE: (7) CLAYTON
Clayton has seemed to have corrected the ship and with so many talents I think they have the road to sneak into the semifinals. The tough test at home starts against an Alamo Navajo team they can't take lightly. But if they get to the quarters, they will likely have Penasco. Now Penasco returns all their starters for this year's run. But Clayton has been tested through the season more so than Penasco, I believe. And on a neutral court, I'm not sure if Penasco (not playing at Bernalillo HS) will have the shooting touch down. Clayton likes that interior scoring with their interior players so I like that matchup that leads to Clayton in the final four.
BEST GAME: (8) MESCALERO APACHE VS. (9) MAGDALENA
This will be a fun one. Not too bad of a road trip for Magdalena, and Mescalero is familiar with them. Their head-to-head record dating back to January 2007 is 3-8 in favor of the Lady Steers. But both teams have had might marks and low marks this season. What I'm looking forward to is the scoring battle between Mescalero Apache's Fallon Velasquez and Magdalena's Kourtney Lewis. I think Magdalena has the better all-around squad but Mescalero Apache has shown they can hang with almost any team they've faced all season. This is the 2A game I would attend on Friday.
DOUBLE DIGIT DELIGHT
I think we could see the most upsets in this class. I'm probably wrong, but just looking at the key matchups, it's interesting. I'm curious how Pecos responds to Tse' Yi' Gai and whether Tse' Yi' Gai will make the road trip worthwhile and give Pecos a game. Same with Newcomb and Dulce. That's two top four seeds that could find themselves in games on Friday.
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