Santa Fe High takes at-large berth in 6A, will face No. 1 Hobbs
With the state basketball tournament finally upon us, it’s time for Lanse Carter to dust off his trusty DVD collection and make a motivational mixtape — er, video — for his players.
He got his own personal dose of motivation Sunday night when he learned that his Santa Fe High girls had landed an at-large spot in the Class 6A Tournament.
“You know what, this is a chance for us to continue to get better by extending our season at least one more week,” Carter said after the Demonettes (11-16) were thrown into the big-school bracket as the No. 16 seed opposite No. 1 Hobbs (27-1).
The two will meet later this week in Ralph Tasker Arena, a gym that’s as intimidating as any the state has to offer. “I’m just going to instill some hope in our kids, maybe record a scene or two from Hoosiers to show them at practice this week,” Carter said. “Maybe take them down there early so we can measure the rims and take a look around before the game. Do whatever it takes to take the edge off.”
The Demonettes aren’t the only team from Santa Fe heading to state. St. Michael’s and Santa Fe Indian School were two of the last teams thrown into the Class 4A bracket that features regional rivals Las Vegas Robertson, West Las Vegas, Pojoaque Valley and Taos.
The bottom four seeds in the 4A bracket are all from this area as Pojoaque is No. 13 and will head to Portales. St. Michael’s, which beat the Elkettes in the District 2-4A tournament, is No. 14 and will travel to Las Vegas to face 2-4A regular season champion Robertson, the No. 3 seed. The Lady Horsemen already own a win over the Lady Car-
dinals, making it an intriguing 3-14 matchup that seems oddly out of place.
SFIS is the No. 15 seed and will head to No. 2 Shiprock while Taos is the lowest seed and has to face perennial power Albuquerque Hope Christian.
West Las Vegas landed the No. 6 seed despite owning a win over Robertson in the 2-4A tournament title game last weekend. The Lady Dons host Socorro in the opening round but would immediately get the winner of Robertson-St. Michael’s in the state quarterfinals.
The Class 5A bracket offered a modest surprise as Española Valley was seeded No. 3, a spot below where some had projected the Lady Sundevils in the days leading into Selection Sunday.
“Where we go isn’t something we really talk about,” said Española Valley senior Alexis Lovato after Saturday night’s win over Albuquerque Academy in the District 2-5A championship game. “We want the best possible [seed] but it doesn’t matter, I guess.”
The Lady Sundevils face a challenging road to the top of the bracket. Awaiting in the quarterfinals is either No. 6 Albuquerque St. Pius X or perennial power Gallup, the 11-seed. The opposite side of the bracket features No. 2 Los Lunas, No. 7 Kirtland Central and 2-5A rival Del Norte. Roswell is the consensus choice of all observers for No. 1.
The Class 3A bracket has Pecos staying at home for the first round as the No. 7 seed. The Lady Panthers will host No. 10 Loving with a potential meeting with No. 2 Texico awaiting in the quarterfinals.
McCurdy also made the field. The Lady Bobcats are seeded No. 12 and will head to No. 5 Laguna-Acoma.
The 2A field has Escalante at the No. 6 spot. The Lady Lobos will face District 5-2A rival Peñasco in the opening round. The Lady Panthers are seeded No. 11 despite being ranked No. 1 as recently as January.
Mora got the No. 9 seed and must travel to No. 8 Ramah.
Coronado is the only area team to make it into the Class 1A bracket. The Lady Leopards are No. 6 and will get a visit from No. 11 Vaughn.