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Home / News / St. Michael’s boys rolling along on the same pace as last basketball season, now 5-0 in District 2-3A, 14-7 overall, and winners of 9 of last 10 starts after Wednesday’s 52-44 win at West Las Vegas

St. Michael’s boys rolling along on the same pace as last basketball season, now 5-0 in District 2-3A, 14-7 overall, and winners of 9 of last 10 starts after Wednesday’s 52-44 win at West Las Vegas

By Arnie Leshin 
Arnie Leshin

Go figure these polls, not the ones regarding politics, but the ones listing the New Mexico high school boys basketball teams. And who knows, they might also involve politics.

Except that these standings are just that, unofficial, and do not figure in the state rankings that lines up the 16-field state tournament schools.
But just for instance, while St. Michael’s comes off an impressive road 52-44 win Wednesday night at West Las Vegas, and on the same path it took last year in District
2-3A when it lost only once, that being the one at the Dons late in the season, at least the Horsemen are seeded 3rd in the rankings.
But in the latest state class standings, which, unlike the rankings, are unofficial, the Horsemen, now 5-0 in district, 14-7 overall and winners of 9 of their last 10 starts, are 9th in these standings, and Robertson, which recently lost to St. Michael’s, has a 3-2 district mark, is 15-5 overall, and is No. 3.
Right behind the Horsemen is West Las Vegas at 4-1 in district and 12-8 overall. Next comes Raton (12-8, 1-4), which plays at St. Michael’s Friday night. And 13th and just in back of the Tigers is Santa Fe Indian School (11-9 and 1-3), which finally disposed of the Horsemen after four defeats last year and then lost in the state final, while Santa Fe Prep is ranked 20th and is 5-9 overall and 0-4 in district.
St. Michael’s did graduate a number of seniors,four starters, so it’s a younger lineup now, but with experience picked up last season when that team was ranked No. 1 in 2A most of the campaign and went 9-1 in district.
After the Raton game, it plays at Santa Fe Prep, then at Robertson, home to the Dons, and winding up at Indian School.
Against WLV, a tough opponent at its home court, senior Thomas Wood, the only starter back from last season, led the way with 18 points while battling an illness, and senior Rico Gurule added eight second-half points as the Horsemen came from 29-24 down at the half at Gillie Lopez gymnasium.
Also Wednesday night, Robertson dominated Raton, 65-22.
Then, how about 5A, with Santa Fe High coming off a recent second win in three meetings versus cross-town rival Capital, and is 5-0 and in first place in District 5, but stands 6th, three spots behind the Jaguars, in second place at 4-1. The Demons are 18-3, the same overall record as Capital, and on a 7-game win streak.
Wednesday night, they both cruised to victories in a district with only Santa Fe High and the Jags with over .500 records, with the Demons winning 83-50 at Albuquerque Rio Grande, and Capital 77-44 over visiting Albuquerque Manzano.
In another District 5 contest at Albuquerque Sandia, the Matadors fell 50-39 to Albuquerque High. The Bulldogs are 7-12 and 2-3, Sandia 5-14 and 2-3, Manzano 7-12 and 2-3, and Rio Grande 3-16 and 0-5. It’s a 3-way tie in back of Santa Fe High and Capital in what amounts to a two-way battle for state tournament spots.
The Demons picked up a game-high 22 points from sophomore Paul “PJ” Lovato and junior Fedonta “JB” White added 19. Santa Fe High is home versus Albuquerque High Friday night.
The Jaguars, who are home to Rio Grande Friday night, had senior Antonio “TJ” Sanchez scoring the game-high 21 points to increase his program-best career totals to 1,228. Junior Dominic Luna tossed in 17 and senior Seth Arroyos contributed 14 as Capital broke away to an early lead and never looked back.
In 2A, Pecos, in quest of a fourth-straight state championship, is No. 2 in these standings behind undefeated Magdalena, which is unbeaten in 20 starts and heads to the Panthers Tuesday in a non district clash. Peocs has won 17 in a row after the 8-point loss to 5A Santa Fe High, and is 20-1.
But first the Panthers, 103-8 in the stretch run of a fourth year following the state titles, are 2-0 in district and home Friday night to District 7 foe Texico, which is 13-5 overall and 1-1 in district.
Tonight, Albuquerque Bosque Charter is at Santa Fe Prep in a non district test, as is Moriarty at Robertson. In 2-4A, Los Alamos heads for Pojoaque Valley and Espanola Valley is at Taos.

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