Hope, Cibola entered in Armijo Classic

Future Lobo De La Cerda, Roswell at Mel Otero Invite

There are three major prep basketball tournament weeks in the regular season.

This is the first of the three, as high school hoops kicks into high gear.

The annual Joe Armijo Classics (boys and girls) at Albuquerque Academy doesn’t have the stellar field it had a year ago, but there remain some interesting entries among the boys.

Hope Christian and Cibola are in one half of the bracket and could meet in Friday’s semifinals; the Huskies beat the Cougars by 11 points last week at Cibola. First, however, Hope has to negotiate La Cueva (11:30 a.m.) and Cibola needs to face Mayfield (1:15 p.m.), in Thursday’s first round.

The top half of the bracket has host Albuquerque Academy meeting Aztec, and Clovis facing Oñate. The final is set for 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Division I signee (Portland) Jayce Gorzeman of Mayfield is in the first girls Armijo game of the day Thursday, at 8 a.m against defending 4A state champion Hope Christian. Cibola and Los Alamos follow at 9:45 a.m.

On the top half, it’s Oñate-La Cueva at 3 p.m. and Academy-Cleveland at 4:45 p.m. The girls’ championship is Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

If you’re keen on seeing a future Lobo, she is here this week at the Mel Otero Invitational at Rio Rancho High School.

Explosive scoring guard Jaedyn De La Cerda and Roswell High, last season’s 5A state champion, meet 6A power Eldorado in the featured first-round matchup, at 3 p.m. Thursday. De La Cerda recently signed her national letter of intent with New Mexico.

The host Rams play Valencia at 1 p.m., Centennial squares off with Clovis at 5, and Las Cruces — one of the premier 6A programs — faces Española Valley, one of 5A’s best, at 7 p.m. Thursday. The title game is 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Hub City Tournament in Belen has several metro-area boys teams in the field, including the host Eagles, plus Valley and Bernalillo.

The Vikings open with 5A juggernaut Roswell at 4:30 Thursday afternoon. The Spartans face El Paso High at 3 p.m. Thursday, with BelenLovington at 7:30 p.m.

The championship of that event is 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

The 44th Alice King Invite in Moriarty is a girls tournament. First-round matchups Thursday are Bernalillo-Pojoaque Valley at 1 p.m., Atrisco Heritage-Miyamura at 3, St. Pius-Cobre at 5 and then a rivalry game between the host Pintos and Estancia at 7 p.m. The championship game is 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Sandia Prep boys are hosting their tournament starting Thursday; West Las Vegas standout guard D.J. Bustos will be in action against Silver in the first round at 2 p.m. The host Sundevils play Valencia at 7 p.m. Thursday. St. Pius meets Mesilla Valley at 3:45 p.m., and Española Valley takes on Robertson at 5:30 p.m.