A new champion will be crowned at this year’s Northern Rio Grande girls basketball tournament since Santa Fe Indian School has stopped participating in the tournament.
The Lady Braves, the tournament’s defending champions, were the only Class AAA team to play in the tournament last year. That leaves eight Class AA schools in this year’s competition. The Braves had won four tournament titles since 2002.
“Indian School wished to leave of their own accord because of the level of competition,” McCurdy athletic director Eric Vigil said.
The tournament will be held at McCurdy School in Española. Play begins Wednesday (12/10) and concludes Saturday with the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Seeding for the tournament is based on a team’s season record going into the tournament. The following are a look at each team starting with the top seed.
1. Mesa Vista is off to its best start in years. The Lady Trojans won their first six games before losing to Monte Vista, Colo., in the championship game of the Grizzly Tournament. Second year coach Richard Montoya has the Trojans playing well this season. Seniors Laura Lopez and Ashley Martinez have returned from knee injuries, while sophomore Carmelita Trujillo has been the team’s leading scorer.
2. Coronado has replaced Indian School in the Northern field. Last season, the Lady Leopards won their second straight District 2AA title and advanced to the state tournament quarterfinals. Senior shooting guard Matilda Gallegos and junior point guard Stephany Velasquez return for Coronado, who are 3-1 this season.
3. Mora lost to Indian School in last year’s championship game and started the season with a loss to Pojoaque. The Rangerettes are 4-2 on the season.
4. Pecos finished fourth in the tournament last year. The Panthers are 3-2.
5. McCurdy started this season like a house on fire, blowing out its first three opponents by a combined score of 137-48. But Cimarron spanked the Bobcats 72-41 in Cimarron. McCurdy fell to 3-3 after losing to Mora and Thoreau but defeated District 3AA rival Peñasco 54-49 Dec. 6 to improve to 4-3 on the season.
6. Escalante started the season with a 54-30 loss to Mesa Vista, but blew out Santa Fe Prep 54-8 in its next game. The Lobos have two precocious freshmen in Bonnie Salazar and Jenna Rhoads. Escalante is 1-1 on the season.
7. Dulce won the tournament in 2003, but started this season with a pair of losses to Mesa Vista before beating Tsé Yi Gai High School for its first win. Dulce is 1-2 going into the tournament.
8. Peñasco, which won the title in 2006, is off to a rough start this season. The defending District 3AA champions are 0-5.