Horsemen are back, maybe even better
St. Michael’s defeated Santa Fe High for first time in nearly a decade
Less than a calendar year removed from one of the weirdest, wildest, most stressful years in the long and celebrated history of the St. Michael’s boys basketball program, the Horsemen are back and, by all accounts, even better than before.
With half a dozen regulars back from a team that made it to the Class 3A state finals in March, St. Michael’s began the season ranked No. 2 behind defending champ and heated district rival Robertson. Despite the fact about half of the varsity roster was getting a late start after finishing the football season, expectations were decidedly high.
It took all of a week to vault into the top spot.
The Horsemen swept through the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament, stunning perhaps the city (and most prep basketball enthusiasts) by beating Santa Fe High for the first time in nearly a decade. It was enough to inherit the No. 1 ranking before losing at Pojoaque Valley earlier this week.
For the guy in charge, rinding the roller coaster of the ups and downs of the sport is just part of the job description.
Gerard Garcia took over as interim head coach in January when the school put David Rodriguez on paid leave. Garcia helped pry the team off the deck following a disastrous 0-10 start (believed to be the worst start in school history), leading it through a brutal district to the state finals.
“I don’t know if I’d say I feel more comfortable being the full-time coach because, to be honest, I was already pretty comfortable with my role on the team before all this,” Garcia said. “This is just more of the same thing. Maybe the only thing different is I have the final say in the huddle. Not much else has changed.”
A lifetime assistant who has been
a part of the St. Michael’s program more than any person of his generation, Garcia was finally handed the reigns as the varsity head coach last spring. It’s as much a nod to his successful run at the end of last season as it is the school’s faith his ability to end the program’s title drought.
Not since the 2012 team beat Hope Christian in The Pit has St. Michael’s won it all.
A look at the team’s scores through the season’s first two weeks hints of its familiar past. The 2012 Horsemen were known for their suffocating defense under then-head coach Ron Geyer. The first five games of this season have seen the Horsemen giving up fewer than 40 points a game, a similar figure to the best of Geyer’s teams.
“People always think coach Geyer’s teams just played defense but they ran around a lot and were always moving,” Garcia said. “We want to do the same thing. We’ll play hard, aggressive defense but we’ve got some guys who can score.”
There are definitely a few guards who can light things up, but it’s players like sophomore guard Sabiani Rios who make the Horsemen interesting to watch. He’s the guy, Garcia said, who gets the other team’s best player based solely on his athleticism and commitment to on-ball defending.
Everything else just seems to fall in line. With Rios doing his thing, the defense’s success relies heavily on players taking care of assignments and sticking to the game plan. There are no gimmick schemes, no devotion to the box-and-1 or full-court press.
“You basically coach the game the way that best suits the players you have,” Garcia said. “That’s the biggest adjustment you have to make. You know your guys and coach to their style.”
Garcia’s attention to detail applies to offense, as well. He’s got a guard-heavy rotation led by seniors Adam Montoya and Marco C de Baca. Montoya is likely to bloom into one of 3A’s top guards. A solid shooter who can provide offensive consistency and leadership, he’s got the length (6-foot-2) to gain leverage over would-be defenders and the experience to comfortably own the title of go-to guy on offense.
A pair of 6-3 posts will hold down the paint. One of them is Taven Lozada, a senior who’s just now getting up to speed after football. The other is just a freshman — but a freshman with plenty of varsity experience. Donevan Ricker made last year’s varsity roster and got spot time here and there. This season he’ll be given more minutes as he settles into the role of regular contributor.
The rest of the pieces will fall into place. Garcia expects to go as many as 10 players deep as he continues to tinker with the starting lineup.
Along the way, he’s sure he’ll draw comparisons to Horsemen coaches who came before him, many of whom he’s worked for since the 1990s.
“I think I’ve taken a little from every coach I’ve worked with and added it to what I already knew,” Garcia said. “Coach Geyer was a big influence on me just like, but so have a lot of other coaches I’ve worked. I’ve been fortunate to work with some great people.”