District 2-3A boys tournament is a go
There will be a District 2-3A boys basketball tournament this year. Earlier this week, the district received the go-ahead from the New Mexico Activities Association to finish the regular season Feb. 21 instead of Feb. 19 as schools try to finish their slate of games.
So, the district’s final two games of the season — Raton-Las Vegas Robertson and St. Michael’s-West Las Vegas — will be played Feb. 21, with the district tournament beginning the following day.
District athletic directors elected to keep the time-honored tradition of using the ladder bracket, but games will be played every day starting Feb. 22, when the bottom two seeds play one another.
That winner will then travel to the fourth seed Feb. 23, the victor of that game plays at the third seed the following day and that winner plays the district runner-up Feb. 25.
The championship game will take place Feb. 26 at the home of the regular-season champion.
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The winningest girls basketball coach in state history is finally getting some of the national recognition he has long deserved.
Ron Drake was named a finalist for national coach of the year honors by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. The winner will be announced in June at the organization’s national convention.
Drake has won 674 games in a career that dates back to the late 1980s in New
Jersey. Since arriving in New Mexico, he has had stops at Santa Fe High, St. Michael’s, Española Valley, Pojoaque Valley, Pecos and now Academy for Technology and the Classics. He got his first and only state championship in 2019 with Pecos and currently has ATC in position for a postseason run.
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New Mexico didn’t have a single player who played high school ball in the state involved in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Sad face.
We weren’t alone, though. All told, 22 states didn’t have any players make it to the big game, including Colorado, Oregon, South Carolina and New York. In case you’re wondering, neither did Maine, South Dakota or Kentucky.
Texas had the most, with 16 former high schoolers on one of the two rosters. California had 13 and Florida 12.
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Mora’s Manuel Romero reached a milestone in his boys basketball coaching career.
The veteran coach hit the 400-win mark Feb. 9 with a 65-60 win over Peñasco. Romero, who is in his second stint at the school, holds a 401-311 record after picking up a win against Questa on Feb. 10 and losing to McCurdy on Saturday.
In 26 years, Romero has coached at Mora (twice), Peñasco and Las Vegas Robertson. He had his best success with the Rangers, where he won Class 2A state titles in 1998 and 2005. He recently left Robertson, where he compiled a 136-111 record in nine seasons at the school. But the Cardinals went 107-56 over the final six seasons, winning the District 2-3A title three times.
In his first year with the Rangers, Romero has guided the program to a 10-12 overall record, 3-4 in District 5-2A.
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Capital and Santa Fe High both walked away with a pair of district champions in the District 5-5A Wrestling Tournament on Saturday at Los Lunas. The Demons had Elias Mendiola and Elijah Martinez win their respective weight classes, with Mendiola taking the 113 pound weight class and Martinez finishing the regular season with a perfect 26-0 record as a 182-pounder.
Meanwhile, Damian Rodriguez and Roman Ulibarri walked away with titles at 106 and 120 pounds.
Both programs also recorded firsts Thursday when Santa Fe High’s Alana Jaurez-Acevedo and Capital’s Nisa Gallegos both qualified for the state meet. Jaurez-Acevedo placed second at 132 pounds in the District 2A tournament, while Gallegos took third in the 185 division to qualify.
The State wrestling championships are Friday (Class 1A/3A and 4A) and Saturday (5A and girls) in the Rio Rancho Events Center.