Brown’s return marks new season
Cibola star is back from injury, but there are plenty of other storylines to follow in girls basketball
Amaya Brown’s return, a fountain of talented youth, and the extreme optimism of teams like West Mesa and Los Lunas are just some of the story threads that should dominate the 2017-18 girls basketball season in the metro area.
A majority of the metro’s teams open the season either today or Tuesday.
Class 6A
Defending champion Sandia only returns one starter, but the Matadors feature a very promising newcomer in freshman combo guard Viané Cumber.
“I do very much feel like we are starting over again,” Sandia coach Lee Kettig said.
Hobbs and Carlsbad seem to top the general list of 6A contenders in the south, but there are teams closer to home — Rio Rancho, West Mesa, Eldorado and Cibola among them — who plan to join the fight in March.
Brown, now a senior, missed last season at Cibola with a knee injury. The Florida State signee already has one state title and hopes to add a second before she finishes her career.
“To my eye,” Cougars coach Lori Mabrey said, “she looks better. I would venture to say she’s a better player than when she left a year ago.”
An improved outside shot should help immeasurably, Mabrey said.
“If (our team) can handle the pressure, and I think they can, we’ll be in the thick of things for sure,” Mabrey said.
But the Cougars are not even considered the preseason district favorites in 1-6A. That would be Rio Rancho and coach Scott Peterson, who has college signees in 6-foot-2 Kamirah Decker (Eastern New Mexico) and 5-10 Camryn Hawkins (UT-Arlington)
and a deep roster of talent.
“It’s a special group,” Peterson said. “I could coach for 20 more years and not have a group like this come through.”
From last March’s state tournament, the highest seeded metro team was No. 3 West Mesa, and the Mustangs, led by guards Esperanza Varoz and Maiah Rivas, return all their starters from an endlessly entertaining 25-win group.
“My biggest challenge is keeping them healthy,” West Mesa coach Manny Otero said. “They’re motivated and hungry for another year. They’re super excited and ready to go.”
Eldorado has another new coach in Rich Harbin, who built an extremely reputable and winning program at Valley before changing jobs in the offseason.
There were a couple of key graduations, but the Eagles and La Cueva both plan to battle for a District 2-6A title.
“We can be one of those teams in March,” Harbin said. “And there are a lot of them. There is a lot of parity. It could be a year where your state champion might have five, six, seven losses.”
La Cueva, last season’s state runner-up, has a superb collection of guards, led by sophomore Kaya Ingram, and including Rachael Hathoot, Deja Sandoval and Brooke Nelson. But there are questions about how well the Bears can score and rebound inside.
From District 4-6A, Highland is the team best equipped to compete with West Mesa, although the Hornets, compared to the Mustangs, are a veritable collection of redwoods. Newcomer Cailee Crawford, a 6-1 freshman point guard, will be integral in a huge but potent lineup.
“To unseat (West Mesa),” Hornets coach Lonnie Neal said, “we’ve got to shoot better.”
Rio Rancho’s Peterson praised the overall depth in 6A.
“Girls basketball in our state is an all-time high,” he said. “There are six to eight teams that can win it all. Which teams (will be) healthy? Which teams (will be) playing the right way, and catch a break and get lucky?”
“Los Lunas is the best team in the state,” longtime St. Pius coach Phil Griego said, and this comes from someone who believes his own team could be a serious threat in March. “They didn’t lose anybody from a really solid team.”
Los Lunas coach Marty Zeller didn’t exactly shy away from that praise.
“This is probably the best team I’ve ever had,” he said. “And we’ve been in four of the last five state championship games.”
The Tigers have four players — Amber Trujillo, Mica Jenrette, Hayley Torres and Ashley Blackwell, who all stand about 5-8 — who won rings two years ago. And a tremendous infusion of youth gives Los Lunas reason to think it can hoist a blue trophy in the Pit come March 9.
Both Zeller and Griego said Bloomfield will be a top contender in 5A as well. Goddard is the defending state champion.
Hope Christian lost in the state final last March to Shiprock, and the Huskies will have a fresh coat of paint. There are no starters returning, and Gary Ellis, a former assistant to Terry Heisey, is now the head coach after Heisey retired following the 201617 season.
“It’s a fantastic job at Hope, and it’s obviously a huge responsibility,” Ellis said.
Like their new head coach, Husky reserves from last season are itching to carve out their own identity.
“I think that’s their biggest goal,” Ellis said. “They’re excited now that now is their opportunity to shine.”
Among the other new coaches in the metro area are Joe Tafoya, a former longtime assistant to Harbin, taking over at Valley. … Bernalillo and Rio Grande also open with new head coaches. … Locals wanting to get a good look at Hobbs and Carlsbad will be able to see both when the Cavegirls and Eagles visit Albuquerque for a pair of games on Dec. 15-16.