What’s bad for Santa Fe is good for rest of North

As we head into the final week of the regular season and the state basketball tournament picture truly materializes, one thing becomes abundantly clear: It might be a quiet March for Santa Fe schools and less so for the surrounding areas.

For the past few seasons, the city has experienced plenty of excitement when it comes to March Madness. We had the exhilarating runs to the state championship game from the Santa Fe Indian School boys and girls, while Capital and Santa Fe High enjoyed similar journeys to the 5A championship.

This year, though, enthusiasm may be muted. Other than the Lady Braves, who are a top-four caliber team but only second-best in District 2-3A, Santa Fe schools might struggle to even get to the final week of the season.

The Santa Fe High boys, who started the season with plenty of promise and looked like a top-five program, are now preparing to pack it in. The Demons’ District 5-5A loss to Los Lunas relegated them to the bottom half of the 16-team bracket and the prospect of having to get past Albuquerque Volcano Vista or Las Cruces, the two best teams in 5A.

Capital saw its season crater with an 0-4 start in 5-5A and needs to win the district tournament to even have a chance at making it to state.

Meanwhile, the feel-good story of the winter — the sudden rise of St. Michael’s in Class 3A — took a hit when the Horsemen lost to Las Vegas Robertson. A top-four seed is still a possibility for St. Michael’s, but it was looking at potentially landing a top-two seed prior to the weekend.

You can group Santa Fe Prep, SFIS, Academy for Technology and the Classics and possibly Monte del Sol in the “Happy to still be playing” category.

While the Santa Fe High girls sit at 15-8 and in second place in 5-5A, it’s very likely the Demonettes will be a bottom-four seed. That’s quite a path to make it to the second week of the season.

If anything, the surrounding communities will be carrying the weight of expectations into March.

It seems like every year the Pecos boys are in the conversation in Class 2A, and this year is no exception. But you can add Escalante to the list for the boys and the girls.

Perhaps the most intriguing class to watch is 4A boys, where Española Valley and Taos are battling for top-four seeds and could both end up there once the smoke clears. The two teams played to an intense, 58-55 win by the Sundevils, which foretells another tough matchup Saturday to decide not only the top seed for the district tournament but probably a top-three seed in 4A.

And what would a sneak peak at March be without the requisite discussion of Las Vegas Robertson? Last year, the boys were seeded No. 1 and almost reached the finals, while the young, inexperienced girls squad made an unexpected run to the 3A finals.

That performance just set the table for this year, during which both teams are in the running for the top seed in the 3A bracket and fashion themselves as title contenders.

If Santa Feans are looking for some glimmer of hope, there is the possibility that SFIS and the Robertson girls could end up in a semifinal battle that would ensure a championship spot for a northern school.

Of course, we would be saying the same thing about a potential St. Michael’s-Robertson matchup in March.

The good news is, Northern New Mexicans have a passion for basketball that goes beyond Santa Fe schools, so they should have plenty of reason for excitement.

The only caveat: If Española makes it to the finals, get to The Pit early — like Tuesday. Just to be safe.