St. Michael’s boys host their 4-school, 3-day basketball round robin

Friday, the Horsemen meet up with Portales, Saturday they take on Santa Fe Indian School, and Tuesday they open District 2-4A play by visiting Las Vegas Robertson

By Arnie Leshin

In this day and age, it’s not appropriate to spread “shootout” around, especially linked to a high school basketball event.

But that’s the way St. Michael’s has worded its four-school round robin boy’s tournament that begins today. It’s a “shootout.” Take it or leave it, so why not be safe and leave it as perhaps the Horsemen Round Robin.

It’s also St. Michael’s in its final rundown of non district play. After it concludes this event that brings in 4A schools Santa Fe Indian School, Portales and Silver, the next step is District 2-4A, which isn’t exactly looking like a threat for state honors.

Which means that the Braves, the Rams and the Colts should provide a good test for the Horsemen as they try to end a 6-game losing skein. This is just the right time for the defeats to turn to victories, especially on their home court.

Tonight, they line up against Silver, which is 9-4 and ranked in the top three of 4A. Friday, they meet Portales, which is 8-5 and a familiar foe in Santa Fe. Saturday, they wind up versus Indian School, their neighbors who are 8-6.

And St. Michael’s is the lone entry with a losing record, 5-9. It takes on Silver tonight after the Indian School-Portales’ 5:30 p.m. contest. Friday, it follows the Indian School-Silver game, and Saturday concludes the tournament by meeting up with the Braves following the Portales-Silver 5:30 opener.

Until now, the Horseman have played mostly against 5A and 6A schools. In 5A, they did split with 2nd ranked Capital, with an impressive win following an embarrassing loss. But they lost to 5A Belen, to 5A undefeated and top-ranked Espanola Valley, to 5A Roswell, to 5A Los Alamos, and to 5A Albuquerque Academy. It also lost to 6A Santa Fe High, and to a Borger High team from Texas that is now 4-8 after the tournament in Clovis.

Thus, seven of the nine Horsemen setbacks, without counting Borger, were losses to these schools. Now it’s the 4A trail they take, with only a visit to 4A Sandia Prep for them to play in the midst of this district schedule.

Surprisingly, Robertson, at 5-11, has currently the worst record and has lost three in a row. West Las Vegas, usually a tough task, is at 8-7. Taos owns a 7-8 mark, and Pojoaque is at 4-8 and have lost its last two.

There, a perfect time for St. Michael’s to win in its district, but first comes the round robin, and that should also provide a tough go for the Horsemen.

District play begins with St. Michael’s playing at the Cardinals Tuesday night. From there, it meets up with Taos at home, is at Pojoaque, plays at non district opponent Sandia Prep, and concludes the regular season at West Las Vegas exactly one month after opening district play versus Robertson.