Two NM youth teams are national champs

U-15, U-12 squads win tournaments

Two youth basketball teams from New Mexico have won national championships.

Team Swoosh, a U-15 squad ■ with elite-level freshmen from Rio Rancho and Santa Fe, last weekend took first place at the 2018 AAU West Coast National Championship, elite level.

New Mexico beat a team from Oregon in the championship game, played at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Convention Center. The tournament featured about 500 teams from seven countries.

Team members include Evan Gonzales, Tre Watson and Nate Hasberry from Cleveland High School; J.T. Sanchez, Corbin Forester and Junior Hodnett from Rio Rancho High; Cruz Martinez from Santa Fe High; and Dominic Luna from Capital.

Gonzales, Martinez and Hasberry all averaged double doubles in the tournament.

“To win this … championship was a major accomplishment,” Team Swoosh coach Riis Gonzales said.

This team is competing in another national tournament in Chicago later this week.

The U-12 New Mexico D1 ■

Nation Ambassadors took first place at the adidas Junior Gauntlet event in Orange County, Calif., earlier this week.

Amari Brown, the younger brother of former Cibola girls standout Amaya Brown, scored 32 points in the championship game. Daniel Steverson added 18 points.

Other team members are Jalin Holland, Elijah Brody, Chris Aguilar, Santiago Sawtelle, Isaiah Negron, Darius Steverson and Malachi Hill.

They defeated a team from Oakland, Calif., in the final of the invite-only event which featured 16 teams from around the country. The New Mexico team qualified through a regional in Texas in April.