The Peñasco Lady Panthers were not the only people from the Valley to bring home hardware from The Pit.
As lots of Rio Arriba talent often heads to other schools
Leading the way was Kenyon Aguino, the Ohkay Owingeh legend, who now plays at Volcano Vista. Aguino led the way to finish an incredible third-straight 5A championship. The junior scored 18 points along with 13 rebounds in a 47-34 win. And his defense was impeccable, slowing Organ Mountain’s Brandon Kehres, one of the state’s top players, to just three points.
Aguino was the 2023 Gatorade New Mexico boys basketball player of the year as a sophomore; the 2024 award had not been announced as of Tuesday.
Estevan Martinez, a senior starting guard, led Academy for Technology and the Classics to the school’s first ever state championship in 2A.
“It’s just a different style of basketball,” Martinez said. “Everyone from up north goes out there and plays the entire game.”
Martinez said that teammate Davion Martinez lives in Pojoaque but has always gone to Santa Fe schools.
Coaching the squad was Bobby Romero, formerly a coach for Mesa Vista and for Española’s girls team. Romero hails from Truchas, and graduated from Peñasco. Romero also recorded his 100th win in
“It’s a mindset,” Romero said. “I’m proud to be a part of that Northern New Mexico basketball. I’m trying to bring that culture.”
Pecos assistant coach Joseph Fresques still lives in Cuartelez, and previously played for Pojoaque. Fresques’ team scored multiple upsets before losing in the championship to ATC.
And Lisa Villareal, the Alcalde native and Española Valley graduate, continued her legendary run as the Volcano Vista girls coach. She is also the niece of two-time Mesa Vista state champion coach Jerry Villareal.
Though the Hawks came up short of delivering Villareal a sixth state championship, her streak of reaching the 5A state finals in five straight years is incredible. This year, Volcano Vista was the No. 4 seed, and knocked off No. 1 Hobbs before losing to Sandia in the finals.
Jicarilla Apache
The Jicarilla Apache nation was also well represented in The Pit, including on state champion teams.
The Navajo Prep boys and girls teams both won the 3A titles, and both had Jicarilla representation. On the girls team, Leah Harrison was a starter who grabbed eight rebounds in their team’s upset win over Tohatchi. And senior Lane Wilson for the boys team, who largely plays off the bench, is a member of the Jicarilla Apache nation.
The Santa Fe Indian boys team, that came up just short against Navajo Prep in the 3A semifinals, has many of its top contributors from Dulce. Dainien Gonzales, now the Braves’ top player, played at Dulce as a sophomore before transferring. And Kenyen, Dontrey and Tavian Callado are all leading contributors on the team.
In their quarterfinal win over St. Michael’s, Dontrey led the team with 20 points, Gonzales scored 13 with 10 rebounds, and Kenyen Collado scored 10.
Jicarilla’s Daneen Herrera plays for the Santa Fe Indian girls team that also made the semifinals. The girls team also includes leading scorer and rebounder Emma Lewis from Tesuque and Ali Ortiz from Santa Clara.
The Farmington girls basketball team, which made the 5A semifinals before losing to Sandia, includes Aaliyah Archuleta. And Bloomfield, which battled the No. 2 seed in 4A to overtime in the quarterfinals, is led by Aliya and Mischa Quintana. Aliya averaged a team-leading 15.9 points for the Bobcats this year.