SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
The Santa Fe High boys sport an unblemished basketball record, are ranked second in the state, but figure to get a tough test when they hit the road for tonight’s non-district game at Rio Rancho Cleveland.
Not much size for the 9-0 Demons, with four-year mainstay Paul Lovato their tallest player at 6-foot-3, but after that they don’t match up well with the Storm.
At 4-2, Cleveland can go with 6-5 senior small forward Cole Savage, 6-3 sophomore shooting guard Elijah Brody, and 6-2 senior shooting guard Anthony Avila.
But Santa Fe High has already faced taller teams, and won. It’s closest games came in a 56-52 win over Mayfield, 45-40 over Albuquerque Valley, and 44-40 over city-rival Rio Rancho High.
Plus, the Demons have tossed in 513 points and yielded 361, while the Storm, in less games, has scored 392 points and allowed 332.
Lovato has been a big for Santa Fe High over the last four seasons, and 6-foot senior shooting guard Carlos Quintana, and two rising underclassmen, freshman power forward Christian Herrera and sophomore guard Lukas Turner.
Head coach Zac Cole’s roster contains five seniors, four juniors, one sophomore and one freshman.
The Demonettes will play host to the Cleveland girls, and are all even at 4-4behind a balanced lineup led by 5-6 junior point guard Maci Cordova, 6-1 junior post Luriel Vigil, and 5-7 senior forward Samantha Montoya.
They have tallied 311 points and yielded 320, so they have had some close contests.
The Storm is 6-4, has scored 470 points and allowed 390. It has 6-1 senior forward Yolanda Munoz, and a trio of 5-10 seniors with point guard Kennedy Ulmer, shooting guard Mia Nelson, and post-forward Brianna Wolfe.
This is also scheduled for a 7 o’clockstart.
Then there’s the Capital girls in a non-district game at unbeaten Robertson tonight, with the Jaguars 3-6 and having lost two in a row. They lost at home to Pojoaque Valley, split a pair of tight tussles with Pecos, won 43-36 at West Las Vegas and was defeated at St. Michael’s, 40-37.
Under head coach Darren Casados, Capital has been led by seniors Abriana Mare and Annisise Leos. Robertson’s top player has been versatile 5-10 senior Jayden Jenkins, and has turned in 397 points and given up 259.
The Cards’ toughest tests came 31-29 versus Rio Rancho High, 49-45 at Taos, and 44-34 against Moriarty.
