Santa Fe Indian School Tonight in the state boys tournament quarterfinals

How long can 11th-seeded Santa Fe Indian School hang around?

Its overall record is 9-17 as it plays tonight at 3red-seeded Albuquerque Sandia Prep (16-11), but in its first round game of 3A it hit the road for 6th-seed Raton (16-6) and returned with a 46-40 triumph, so it the case of these Braves, it’s what they have done lately and gaining state despite their record.

Indian School lacks the size that the Sundevils have, but it has improved in bench strength, runs the floor well, and would like nothing better than moving ahead to the semifinals versus 2nd-seeded District 2 rival Robertson and 7th-seeded Albuquerque Bosque School at the Rio Rancho Events Center Friday.

The Sandia Prep height advantage belongs to 6-5 senior Mac Manzanares and 6-4 junior Alex Jeffries, but Indian School would like to overcome this and bring back another upset from the road.

The championship game will be played Saturday at the University of New Mexico Pit.

District 2 not only has the Cardinals and Braves remaining in the field, but the main story is no doubt 4th-seeded St. Michael’s (14-13), which recovered from dismal 0-10 and 2-12 starts to take second place in district, score the only district win against Robertson, and tonight has a back-to-back home game winding down versus 5th-seeded Navajo Prep (18-8) with 6 o’clock the scheduled tip-off.

The Horsemen just became a surging team in recovery and has pieced together a well-balanced lineup led by 6-2 senior Devin Flores.

They are presently coached by long-time assistant Gerard Garcia after head Dave Rodriguez was placed on administrative leave around the time the blue and white got the news from Garcia and rallied to stun visiting Robertson after trailing 40-22 in the third quarter and coming away with the overtime comeback.

A win over Navajo Prep would send the Horsemen into the Friday semis against the survivor of top-seeded Socorro and 8th-seeded Crownpooint.

Interesting, it was Crownpoint (22-7) who became the first to lose to St. Michael’s and end the drought, then it was Bosque (18-7) who lost next to the Horsemen. And while it didn’t look like those two schools were state tournament threats, there they are in the quarterfinals.

Taos (22-6) and Espanola Valley (21-7) are in the 4A quarterfinals, with the 2nd-seeded Tigers hosting 7th-seeded Belen, and the 3rd-seeded Sundevils get a visit from 11th-seeded Albuquerque Del Norte, which upset 6th-seeded Silver.