Feature: Stock Watching For Top Four Seeds
Joshua J. Grine
Christmas is upon us, a time to look at our stocks of New Mexico High School basketball.
We will take a look at our Week 6 NMPreps.com Top-25 Rankings and dig into who we think will claim the top spots come March. This is a "what if" the season ended today look.
6A HOOPS
VALLEY VIKINGS
Record: 6-2
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: #1
The Vikings have hit a new stride into the season with a pair of Top-5 wins in the past two weeks. First, they beat Onate High School for the Joe Armijo Classic championship and turned around the next week to take out a fan choice in Cleveland.
Sophomore guard Anthony Chavez along with post man Teton Saltes have both recorded 20-point games in the last two weeks creating what could be one of the most dangerous duos in March. Top teams will be surrounded by quality forwards (strange I know) and Chavez might be the X-factor as a Top-3 guard to take the blue (or Turquoise) trophy home.
Stock: Up
Seed: 1
ONATE KNIGHTS
Record: 6-3
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: 4
The Knights have been good since an early season loss in overtime to Cleveland (65-59) but another dip to Valley in week four might of hurt chances to stay in the top four.
So why the Top-4 seed?
They've righted their season with a win over, then ranked no. 1, Carlsbad and an impressive 70-55 win over El Paso El Dorado (TX). But the determining factor to the possibility of seeing Onate with a Top-4 seed in March is the fact the district could be down, more than we expected it to be.
Stock: Down-ish
Seed: 3 or 4
CARLSBAD CAVEMEN
Record: 8-1
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: 5
The Cavemen haven't been the powerful number 1 seed that we projected them to be this preseason. A few shaky starts but jobs finished have us wondering what we will get in March.
The biggest resume builders to date are Top-25 wins over Gadsden and Los Lunas. Both teams are quality wins this season, Gadsden still a dark horse to some aspect. The 63-45 win over Las Cruces boosted the stock up a ten point 55-45 win to a 2-win Mayfield team makes us think inconsistent -right now.
Stock: Down
Seed: 4 or 3
CIBOLA COUGARS
Record: 7-1
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: 7
Move over, the Cougars are in town. Not many teams with a higher stock than these Cibola Cougars right now.
Behind a rising prospect in Desmond Carpenter and a trio in the making this team could be the silent killer to the preseason favorites. They do have the one loss to Valley (ranked above) by a score of 64-58 but they have wins over Albuquerque High, 68-62 and Top-25 team Sandia, 58-40.
The biggest question mark is they would have to win District 1-6A with the likes of Cleveland, Rio Rancho and Volcano Vista along with a spoiler potential in Santa Fe High. All these teams might hurt stock with a three way, maybe four way, scrabble for the District Title.
Stock: Up
Seed: 2 maybe 1
Joshua J. Grine
Christmas is upon us, a time to look at our stocks of New Mexico High School basketball.
We will take a look at our Week 6 NMPreps.com Top-25 Rankings and dig into who we think will claim the top spots come March. This is a "what if" the season ended today look.
6A HOOPS
VALLEY VIKINGS
Record: 6-2
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: #1
The Vikings have hit a new stride into the season with a pair of Top-5 wins in the past two weeks. First, they beat Onate High School for the Joe Armijo Classic championship and turned around the next week to take out a fan choice in Cleveland.
Sophomore guard Anthony Chavez along with post man Teton Saltes have both recorded 20-point games in the last two weeks creating what could be one of the most dangerous duos in March. Top teams will be surrounded by quality forwards (strange I know) and Chavez might be the X-factor as a Top-3 guard to take the blue (or Turquoise) trophy home.
Stock: Up
Seed: 1
ONATE KNIGHTS
Record: 6-3
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: 4
The Knights have been good since an early season loss in overtime to Cleveland (65-59) but another dip to Valley in week four might of hurt chances to stay in the top four.
So why the Top-4 seed?
They've righted their season with a win over, then ranked no. 1, Carlsbad and an impressive 70-55 win over El Paso El Dorado (TX). But the determining factor to the possibility of seeing Onate with a Top-4 seed in March is the fact the district could be down, more than we expected it to be.
Stock: Down-ish
Seed: 3 or 4
CARLSBAD CAVEMEN
Record: 8-1
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: 5
The Cavemen haven't been the powerful number 1 seed that we projected them to be this preseason. A few shaky starts but jobs finished have us wondering what we will get in March.
The biggest resume builders to date are Top-25 wins over Gadsden and Los Lunas. Both teams are quality wins this season, Gadsden still a dark horse to some aspect. The 63-45 win over Las Cruces boosted the stock up a ten point 55-45 win to a 2-win Mayfield team makes us think inconsistent -right now.
Stock: Down
Seed: 4 or 3
CIBOLA COUGARS
Record: 7-1
NMPreps.com Top-25 Ranking: 7
Move over, the Cougars are in town. Not many teams with a higher stock than these Cibola Cougars right now.
Behind a rising prospect in Desmond Carpenter and a trio in the making this team could be the silent killer to the preseason favorites. They do have the one loss to Valley (ranked above) by a score of 64-58 but they have wins over Albuquerque High, 68-62 and Top-25 team Sandia, 58-40.
The biggest question mark is they would have to win District 1-6A with the likes of Cleveland, Rio Rancho and Volcano Vista along with a spoiler potential in Santa Fe High. All these teams might hurt stock with a three way, maybe four way, scrabble for the District Title.
Stock: Up
Seed: 2 maybe 1
