Grine: Breaking Down The 2016 State Tournament
Joshua J Grine of NMPreps.com
The 2016 New Mexico State Tournament has been out and the teams have schedule travel plans for this coming weekend. Many 1-seeds will be favorites but the field, in all classifications, will have enough reason to consider upsets.
Overseeded: Rio Grande (7-Seed in 6A). Both teams have prospects, a decent resume but neither looked dominate in recent play outside a few 'good' wins - not great ones. The Ravens (Rio Grande) finished the season 2-3 with a loss to a non-playoff team in Highland on February 13th.
Underseeded: Navajo Prep (10-seed in 3A). Jake Newby (DailyTimes) made the comment that 29 mens teams won at least 20-game this season. Only one is a road team in the state tournament. Drum roll....Navajo Prep. Yes, not the best of schedules, however, wins over Dulce and Bloomfield has to have some people thinking 'upset' in round one.
Best Opening Matchup: 8-Fort Sumner vs 9-Dora/Elida (2A). The two teams have played each other 4-times and each team has won twice. The last contest was by 3-points and in a district rivalry game, you have to like an environment to please.
Best Game In The Metro-Area: 6-Albuquerque vs 11-Rio Rancho (6A). The Bulldogs and Rams have met three times this season and even though the scores don't reflect it, this one will be a close, energetic contest featuring two of the best scoring guards in the state in Gabe Bump (AHS) and Clay Patterson (Rio Rancho).
Don't Be Fooled To Pick This Upset. 10-Belen at 7-Gallup. Most might have picked (10) Belen over (7) Gallup to upset but I avoided with the fact that Gallup is 13-3 in 2016 with only losses to 4-seed Farmington. Also, a win against 2-seed Grants in those 16 games. The game
Best Chance For An Upset. 11-Tularosa at 6-Laguna-Acoma. The last time these two meet in the state tournament it wasn't pretty. This time around the former LA assistant coach Sergio Castanon has a sneaky good team that can argue as one of the better defensive teams. The last time they meet LA took a 5 point win. Tularosa has improved vastly since that game.
Another Upset Pick For The Best Return. 12-Shiprock vs 5-Silver (4A Basketball). We have seen this upset to many times and of the 12-5 games this one sticks out as the Shiprock Chieftains are coming into the post season after winning the District 1-4A Tournament and playing great basketball. Silver, is a tall order though and are finally returning everyone from injury.
Game I Want To See In The Elite Eight. 5-Santa Rosa vs 4-Tucumcari. Both have met before and each was better than the last contest. Both can put up points and feature a rich school tradition. Tucumcari features John Paul Garica and the Lions of Santa Rosa a deep roster of players.
Another Elite Eight Contest I am Looking Forward Too. 3-Capital vs 6-Los Lunas. It won't be a scoring frenzy most fans that thrive on scoring will love. However, for me it will be a defensive battle along with two patient offenses that move the ball well. Capital a duo in Eric Coca/Jeremy Anaya and the Tigers have a plethora of juniors that are already being talked about.
1-Seed That We Might Not See On Saturday. 1-Cliff. That might be the dumbest thing I have ever predicted. Well, this year 1A basketball has some parity and could see 1-4 teams win the state tournament. My other pick would be Onate, in 6A, solely on the fact that 6A is so darn good.
Top 2-Seed That Could Win It All. 2-Grants. The Pirates have won the games needed and could be one of the better 2-seeds in New Mexico. Cleveland is my second choice but Grants (not a homer pick) is deep and one of my picks on the final day. (That will soon be released in Grine and Hendo Picks).
Who Will Be The Cinderella of 2016. 11-Logan. The one double-digit seed I could see playing in the Final Four is the Logan Longhorns. They have a favorable upset possibility in 6-Mesa Vista for the school that has played on the final day more than once in the last five years.
Will This Be the Year We See a 16 or 15 Seed Win. So many times we have seen very close calls. Some 16-1 games that come to mind is the Kirtland Central team taking Gallup into overtime. Also, Los Alamos nearly getting Goddard (or too close for comfort). Maybe Capital and Centennial last season. Nonetheless some team will surprise us but maybe this will be the year it happens. Best chance - Del Norte over Roswell. Del Norte has super quick guards and can defend. Ball management is key. The other one of the 16-1 games could possibly be Santa Fe over Onate. Don't bet the house but odds are broken all of the time. 15-seeds I would like to pick Wingate. This team travels well and has been this team always on the verge of making history. If I am crazy, and I am, that is the contest I would say in the 15-2 game.
Joshua J Grine of NMPreps.com
The 2016 New Mexico State Tournament has been out and the teams have schedule travel plans for this coming weekend. Many 1-seeds will be favorites but the field, in all classifications, will have enough reason to consider upsets.
Overseeded: Rio Grande (7-Seed in 6A). Both teams have prospects, a decent resume but neither looked dominate in recent play outside a few 'good' wins - not great ones. The Ravens (Rio Grande) finished the season 2-3 with a loss to a non-playoff team in Highland on February 13th.
Underseeded: Navajo Prep (10-seed in 3A). Jake Newby (DailyTimes) made the comment that 29 mens teams won at least 20-game this season. Only one is a road team in the state tournament. Drum roll....Navajo Prep. Yes, not the best of schedules, however, wins over Dulce and Bloomfield has to have some people thinking 'upset' in round one.
Best Opening Matchup: 8-Fort Sumner vs 9-Dora/Elida (2A). The two teams have played each other 4-times and each team has won twice. The last contest was by 3-points and in a district rivalry game, you have to like an environment to please.
Best Game In The Metro-Area: 6-Albuquerque vs 11-Rio Rancho (6A). The Bulldogs and Rams have met three times this season and even though the scores don't reflect it, this one will be a close, energetic contest featuring two of the best scoring guards in the state in Gabe Bump (AHS) and Clay Patterson (Rio Rancho).
Don't Be Fooled To Pick This Upset. 10-Belen at 7-Gallup. Most might have picked (10) Belen over (7) Gallup to upset but I avoided with the fact that Gallup is 13-3 in 2016 with only losses to 4-seed Farmington. Also, a win against 2-seed Grants in those 16 games. The game
Best Chance For An Upset. 11-Tularosa at 6-Laguna-Acoma. The last time these two meet in the state tournament it wasn't pretty. This time around the former LA assistant coach Sergio Castanon has a sneaky good team that can argue as one of the better defensive teams. The last time they meet LA took a 5 point win. Tularosa has improved vastly since that game.
Another Upset Pick For The Best Return. 12-Shiprock vs 5-Silver (4A Basketball). We have seen this upset to many times and of the 12-5 games this one sticks out as the Shiprock Chieftains are coming into the post season after winning the District 1-4A Tournament and playing great basketball. Silver, is a tall order though and are finally returning everyone from injury.
Game I Want To See In The Elite Eight. 5-Santa Rosa vs 4-Tucumcari. Both have met before and each was better than the last contest. Both can put up points and feature a rich school tradition. Tucumcari features John Paul Garica and the Lions of Santa Rosa a deep roster of players.
Another Elite Eight Contest I am Looking Forward Too. 3-Capital vs 6-Los Lunas. It won't be a scoring frenzy most fans that thrive on scoring will love. However, for me it will be a defensive battle along with two patient offenses that move the ball well. Capital a duo in Eric Coca/Jeremy Anaya and the Tigers have a plethora of juniors that are already being talked about.
1-Seed That We Might Not See On Saturday. 1-Cliff. That might be the dumbest thing I have ever predicted. Well, this year 1A basketball has some parity and could see 1-4 teams win the state tournament. My other pick would be Onate, in 6A, solely on the fact that 6A is so darn good.
Top 2-Seed That Could Win It All. 2-Grants. The Pirates have won the games needed and could be one of the better 2-seeds in New Mexico. Cleveland is my second choice but Grants (not a homer pick) is deep and one of my picks on the final day. (That will soon be released in Grine and Hendo Picks).
Who Will Be The Cinderella of 2016. 11-Logan. The one double-digit seed I could see playing in the Final Four is the Logan Longhorns. They have a favorable upset possibility in 6-Mesa Vista for the school that has played on the final day more than once in the last five years.
Will This Be the Year We See a 16 or 15 Seed Win. So many times we have seen very close calls. Some 16-1 games that come to mind is the Kirtland Central team taking Gallup into overtime. Also, Los Alamos nearly getting Goddard (or too close for comfort). Maybe Capital and Centennial last season. Nonetheless some team will surprise us but maybe this will be the year it happens. Best chance - Del Norte over Roswell. Del Norte has super quick guards and can defend. Ball management is key. The other one of the 16-1 games could possibly be Santa Fe over Onate. Don't bet the house but odds are broken all of the time. 15-seeds I would like to pick Wingate. This team travels well and has been this team always on the verge of making history. If I am crazy, and I am, that is the contest I would say in the 15-2 game.
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