By Arnie Leshin
There were a number of All-District basketball players chosen from the Santa Fe area, and the Pecos state-champion boys got their entire starting five on the 7-2A list.
For the others, St. Michael’s, Capital and Santa Fe High placed three, the Horsemen in 3A and the Jaguars and Demons in 5A. And Santa Fe Indian School, in 3A. settled for two players named.
The Horsemen put sophomores Devin Flores, Derek Martinez and Lucas Coriz on the All team, the Jaguars seniors Antonio “T.J” Sanchez and Chano Herrera, as well as junior Dominic Luna, the Demons juniors Fedonta “J.B” White and Cruz Martinez, and sophomore Paul “PJ” Lpvato, and Indian School seniors Shaun Riley and David Arquero.
Need more space for Pecos, with the four-time state champions dominating their district with
seniors Xavier Padilla, Ismael Villegas, Anthony Armijo, Juan Varela, and Devin Gonzales. Padilla and Varela played forward, Villegas was the post, and Armijo and Gonzales handled the backcourt.
Padilla, Villegas and Armijo also made All-State First Team, as did Sanchez, while Flores and White made the All-State list by being named to the Second Team.
Now for the girls who made All-District.
Pecos did not win a second-straight state championship, but did get four of its players on All-District.
Leading the way was junior Trinity Herrera, who led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and steals. She played either wing or forward. Playing point guard was junior Alexis Gonzales, and the shooting guards were senior Desiree Sena and freshman Mistydawn Roybal. Sena is one of two seniors that are graduating.
In District 2-3A, St. Michael’s came away with its one-two punch of senior Carisa Padilla and freshman Lauryn Pecos making district. From 3A Indian School, it was 5-foot senior Hunter Garcia, who scored 11.5 a game and also took down 3.8 rebounds, which is not bad for her size, and also sophomore Jordan Torres.
The mystery here is why the voters overlooked Braves sophomore Cameron Connors, who led the team in scoring, in rebounding, and was in double figures in 18 games.
In 5-5A, Santa Fe High placed sophomore point guard Kebreya Garcia and sophomore forward Alexis Espinoza, and Capital junior Rebecca Sorensen joined them.