With one third of the year left to go, the Coronado Leopards boys basketball team have won as many games as they had in all but one of their past 11 seasons.
Last season, they finished 3-5 while battling COVID-19 and inconsistent play. But now they sit with nine wins and a winning record, on track to finish with their first winning season since 2016-17, led by Phil Martinez who returned as head coach after a 20-year hiatus.
“We’re starting to gel,” Martinez said, adding that they are peaking at the right time of the season.
The Leopards (9-7, 3-1 in district), launched by a seven-game win streak including back-to-back district wins Jan. 26 and 27, now sit in second place in District 7-1A behind Legacy Academy (9-6, 4-0), and are in line for a state tournament berth.
Coronado had a 15-day break after their first district game on Jan. 11. They showed no rust in their return to action. However, a 61-36 win over New Mexico School for the Deaf (2-4, 0-2) on Jan. 26, grabbing a 16-2 lead after the first quarter, and led by 23 points from sophomore Marcos Martinez.
“Our confidence has been going up, and we’ve been playing as a team,” Marcos Martinez said.
The next day, they hosted Santa Fe Waldorf (3-8, 2-3), and cruised to a 61-39 victory.
That game started with a slow pace from both teams, with neither scoring for the first four minutes — a start Phil Martinez attributed to an hourlong pre-game delay when officials showed up late after a miscommunication. But suddenly, Marcos Martinez caught fire and hit four 3-pointers, including a first-quarter buzzer beater to take an 18-5 lead.
“We started a little slow, but we finally picked up the pace and started hitting some shots,” Marcos Martinez said.
In total, Martinez hit six 3-pointers in the game and scored 22 points, despite sitting for large stretches of the second half. Phil Martinez said he was also the MVP of the Jan. 6-8 Cuba tournament, in which Coronado took first place.
The Leopards continued to dominate the second quarter, holding the Wolves to four points, and they led by 23 at halftime. They forced abundant turnovers leading to scores in transition. And they scored 11 straight points in the first 70 seconds of the third quarter, putting the game entirely out of reach.
Santa Fe Waldorf closed the deficit after Coronado, leading by as many as 36 points, played everyone off the bench for large stretches in the second half (“I should probably put one at a time, not the whole wrecking crew,” Phil Martinez said), but never came remotely within striking distance as the Leopards won by 22.
Anthony Jaramillo scored 15 points in the win, in addition to Marcos Martinez’s 22.
Coronado’s hot streak ended on the road at Legacy Academy on Jan. 29 with a 65-39 loss, with the Silverbacks leading 11-0 after the first quarter and 31-7 at halftime. Legacy Academy made 10 3-point shots in the game.
The Leopards played Evangel Christian (14-4, 4-2) on the road Tuesday evening after press deadline — which Phil Martinez said is a must-win to reach the state tournament. Their next game comes Friday against Walatowa Charter (1-4, 0-2) as they look to remain in the top two of the district standings.
“God, I’d like to get into the state tournament,” Phil Martinez said. “It’s been years since we’ve even approached that level. I want these kids to experience that.”