Confident, rested Prep is hosting Ruidoso
Blue Griffins are in their first Class 3A playoff home game
A familiar bed.
A quick five- to 10-minute drive to the gym.
And a loyal fan base on their side. All of those advantages await the Santa Fe Prep Blue Griffins on Saturday when they hosts their first home game at 5 p.m. as a Class 3A school against No. 10 seed Ruidoso in the opening round of the 3A bracket.
For the first time since moving up to 3A in 2018, seventh-seeded Prep will get to play in Prep Gymnasium. The previous two years saw the Blue Griffins rise early from bed, get to the school for a long bus ride and have 90 minutes to warm up for their game.
Prep head coach Joe Vigil said the home game is a reward for the team’s overall success, having fashioned a 17-12 record and reaching the District 2-3A semifinals for the first time.
“That’s what everybody plays for in the first round,” Vigil said. “You want to make the Big Dance, and if you can get a home game out of it, that’s even better. Getting a first-round game is something new for us, at least in 3-A, but it’s nice not to have to travel great distances for that first game.”
More important to the Blue Griffins is how they have been playing for the last three weeks. They won seven of their previous nine games, won two games in the district tournament last week and come in playing some of their best defense of the season.
It took a while for Prep to adjust to a new defense — a 2-3 zone brought in by girls coach Ron Drake as he made the switch to the boys side. Senior guard Morgan Field said it took a while for the players to adjust to it, but they took off
once they did.
“It’s not something we played before,” Field said. “It didn’t work the first few games, at least I felt like it. There was some confusion going on defensively, and everyone wasn’t getting to where they need to be.”
A big reason for the shift was the size Prep had on the court. With only one player shorter than 6 feet, the team can cover a good chunk of the court because of its length.
But the Blue Griffins’ weakness was defending the 3-point line. Opposing teams were able to get Prep out of sync and find the open shooter.
Those breakdowns happened less as the season progressed, to point that the Blue Griffins forced Santa Fe Indian School into 7-for-30 shooting from the perimeter in a 44-40 loss in the 2-3A semifinal. However, the Braves made their last 3, which erased a 40-39 Prep lead in the final seconds.
Still, Vigil said defense has been the driving force behind his team’s hot streak.
“We’ve been just focusing on our strengths and knowing what we need to do on defense,” Vigil said. “For instance, Santa Fe Indian is a great shooting team, so making those adjustments in practice to prepare for the team you need to play for is important.”
Prep will be facing a Warriors team that relies heavily on 6-1 senior guard Logan Sandoval, who averages 22 points and 6.3 assists per game. Prep senior forward Van Anderson, whose brother Ian was on the last Prep team to play at home when it
was in 2A, said the Blue Griffins will need to rely on their quickness and size to help neutralize the Warriors.
He added, Field’s shooting ability has helped open up the floor and give himself and 6-foot-4 senior post Mitchell
Grover more room to operate in the paint.
“Having Mitch and I bring size in the post, it’s been very important to get Morgan involved outside as a threat because that opens up the offense for us,” Anderson said.