St. Michael’s defeats Sandia Prep 70-43
Faces Robertson in championship game
After coming up short in last year’s boys Class 3A championship game, St. Michael’s played like a team on a mission against Sandia Prep.
The top-seeded Horsemen pressured and flustered the No. 4 Sundevils at every turn, racking up 28 points off turnovers en route to a 70-43 semifinal victory on Friday at the Pit. The win sets up a championship rematch with Robertson Saturday at noon. The Cardinals defeated the Horsemen 65-56 in the 3A final a year ago.
“We’ve been in this situation before. These guys are ready all year long,” St. Michael’s coach Gerard Garcia said. “I knew we had the team to come back to the championship game. It’s a matter of putting all the pieces together.”
The Horsemen, who have won their three postseason games by an average margin of 31 points, closed on an 11-4 run behind 3-pointers from Marco C de Baca, Lucas Gurule and Adam Montoya to take a 29-16 lead into halftime. A 10-0 run extended the lead to 45-22 midway through the third quarter, and the rout was on.
“I just think we were focused and ready to play,” Montoya said. “We always come off slow. Today I think we were just ready.”
Montoya led St. Michael’s with a game-high 24 points, while C de Baca added 16. The Horsemen held a decided edge over the Sundevils in a number of key areas, including points in the paint (42-24), secondchance points (18-8) and fast-break points (19-7).
The St. Michael’s pressure, which forced Sandia Prep into 23 turnovers and disrupted its half-court offense, “really helped us get our energy. It always helps us get our energy,” C de Baca said. “And it helps on the offensive end.”
The end result was a far cry from the first meeting between the two teams, which St. Michael’s won 54-52 in Albuquerque on Jan. 10.
“I just think they came out and jumped on us and played harder, played stronger. We knew if we turned the ball over we didn’t have a chance,” Sandia Prep coach Marcos Rivera said. “We turned the ball over early, they got on us and we just could never get our traction. Credit to them. They did everything we knew they were going to do, and they did it well.”
Alex Jeffries had 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting and 10 rebounds for Sandia Prep, but teammates such as Peyton Henderson (0-for-8) and Jaxon Feit (5-for-17) struggled to put the ball in the basket. In many cases, Sandia Prep was forced to settle for difficult, contested shots.
“They play hard, they’re physical, they’re tough,” Rivera said of St. Michael’s. “I’ve tried my best to try and get my kids to be tough and to know what to expect, and be able to do it too. We just didn’t do it today. They just put their will on us, and we never got going.”
No. 3 ROBERTSON 49, No. 2 NAVAJO PREP 36:
Mateo Contreras scored 19 points to lead the Cardinals (26-5) to victory in the other semifinal. Bodie Schlinger’s 12 rebounds led Robertson, which put away a tight game with a 10-0 fourth-quarter run. Jude Thomas led Navajo Prep (26-3) with 17 points.