Mad scramble for district title
Most teams are ready to establish themselves in second half of season
Take all the old axioms about district play in Northern New Mexico for girls basketball and throw them away — well, most of them. Most of the districts involving Northern New Mexico teams have not established favorites, except for perhaps District 5-2A. That will make for more intrigue than in past years. If any district embodies that, it is 2-3A.
For the past six seasons, the path to a district title — and the Class 3A title — went through either Las Vegas Robertson or Santa Fe Indian School. One of those programs have won the district title during that span, and have reached the state championship game in five of the last six years and played each other for the blue trophy in 2019 and 2022.
However, this year will be a mad scramble among the four participating district teams as St. Michael’s and West Las Vegas have legitimate shots at claiming the district crown.
But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Here are the district outlooks as the state begins that portion of the season in earnest this week:
CLASS 5A District 5-5A
Even after a tough 60-56 double overtime loss to St. Michael’s on Wednesday, Santa Fe High head coach Nate Morris said he felt his team was more than ready to challenge for district supremacy. In fact, he already fashioned 5-5A as a threeteam race among his Demons, Los Lunas and Albuquerque High.
“We’re not looking past the other teams in the district, but as long as we take care of the games other than those two opponents, we should be fine,” Morris said. “If we can split with Los Lunas and Albuquerque High, we’ll be in good shape.”
Santa Fe High showed it can compete with Albuquerque High, having built a 33-28 lead through three quarters of the ninth-place game in the APS Metro Championships before the Lady Bulldogs pulled out a 44-39 win.
If anyone can play spoiler in the district, it is Capital. With a penchant for playing tough defense, the Jaguars already have a win over a district
contender in Los Alamos and can catch a team who is overlooking them off guard.
CLASS 4A District 2-4A
Coming into the season, Los Alamos looked like the clear front-runner to repeat as district champion, but a coaching change in the first week of December caused some turmoil. The loss to Capital on Jan. 9 was concerning, but Los Alamos followed that with wins over West Las Vegas and SFIS.
The Hilltoppers still have arguably the best player in the district with wing GG Romero.
That opens the door for Española Valley and Pojoaque Valley to steal the district crown. The Lady Sundevils, coached by former Los Alamos head coach Ray Romero, went through a four-game losing streak in mid-December but have won five of their last seven games heading into district play. As for Pojoaque, which is coached by the legendary Cindy Roybal, also finished nondistrict play strong, winning three of its last four before taking on Española on Thursday.
CLASS 3A District 2-3A
This district race could mimic the 2019-20 season, which saw a three-way tie for first when the dust settled. St. Michael’s has won 12 of its last 13 games and has used a balanced attack that it hasn’t had in a while.
Robertson lost three-time All-State guard Alexis Pacheco to rival West Las Vegas but rebounded from a 5-5 start to win five of its last six. The Cardinals also found a suitable replacement for Pacheco in eighth grader Arianna Martinez, the team’s leading scorer.
SFIS looked sloppy in losses to Mesa Vista and Los Alamos as the transition to Kadijha Jackson has had some bumps in the road.
Meanwhile, the Lady Dons have come back to Earth, losing seven of their last 11 games. They started 5-0.
CLASS 2A District 2-2A
Academy for Technology and the Classics is going through its own growing pains under new head coach Ben Martinez with a 4-9 start. The Phoenix have a pair of talented players in seniors Naz Romero and Perla Miramontes to help make a run. Monte del Sol and Tierra Encantada will have to make a miraculous turnaround, as neither team has a win yet.
District 5-2A
This is the one district in which preseason expectations have rang true. All signs point to a Mesa Vista-Peñasco showdown. The teams played each other in the Northern Rio Grande Tournament semifinals, won by the Lady Trojans, 76-70. Mesa Vista not only is the district favorite but has positioned itself for a top-two seed for the state tournament.
The Panthers are a strong contender to make some noise in March, even with an 8-7 record, as the inside-outside combo of Analise MacAuley and Rochelle Lopez is one of the state’s best.
Questa, at 10-4, finished fifth at the Northern Rio Grande Tournament and has only three wins over teams with winning records. Escalante, Mora and McCurdy will likely need to win the district tournament to get into the postseason.
District 6-2A
Perhaps the most dangerous team in 2A might be Pecos, winners of five of its last six after a 4-5 start.
Among those wins was an impressive 50-45 victory against Mesa Vista last week that seems to indicate the young Panthers are rapidly improving.
They still have one more week of nondistrict action, but Pecos will be a team to watch in February.
CLASS 1A District 7-1A
New Mexico School for the Deaf got off to a 4-0 start but a disquieting 61-7 loss to Coronado on Jan. 10 to open district play came after a three-week break and no practice.
The Roadrunners have had two weeks in the gym since then, and Thursday’s game against Jemez Valley should be a better indicator of their prospects. As for the Leopards, they have mostly struggled aside from wins over NMSD, Monte del Sol and Tierra Encantada.