The Escalante Lady Lobos are, for the second straight year, the top overall seed in 2A entering the state basketball tournament.
But the road there will again be fierce.
Among their competition will be the No. 2 seed Mesa Vista Lady Trojans, who watched the selection show on Sunday at coach Jesse Boies and point guard Bella Boies’ house.
Before the selection show started, the team played “Hedbanz,” while rules were often inconsistent and not entirely followed to the letter of the law. But the game kept everyone engaged, and gave the team a brief, fun distraction from basketball and the upcoming tournament, where the main question was if they would be No. 2 or No. 3 (they ultimately slotted in ahead of Laguna-Acoma).
Boies asked the team if they had watched the district championship game between Escalante and Peñasco — most had — and asked what they thought of the game.
“We would’ve won,” senior Anna Peña answered, then joked “by 40.”
The Lady Trojans (22-5) will host No. 15 Eunice (14-12) as they look to bounce back from uncharacteristically losing three of their last five games. The Cardinals have a long 6-hour trip for the game. The two teams have not faced any common opponents this year.
All boys first-round games will be on Saturday, and girls games on Friday, hosted by the higher-seeded teams. From there, quarterfinals and beyond will be in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque.
Should Mesa Vista win, they will play district champion No. 7 Texico (13-13) or No. 10 Mescalero Apache (19-8) on the morning of March 7. Texico would be a tough matchup, having won seven of their last eight games against a tough district schedule.
The Lady Lobos (19-7) will host No. 16 Lordsburg (12-12) in the first round, and will look to win a potentially fast-paced game. Their next game would be a tough one, with either No. 8 Santa Rosa (18-9) or No. 9 Clayton (20-8) coming in; the two are still top-six in rankings, with Santa Rosa at No. 3 and Clayton the preseason No. 1, but seeding procedures ranked them lower. Escalante could have a rematch of last year’s final with Clayton.
Dulce (20-8) earned a No. 6 seed, and will play a contested game against No. 11 Peñasco (17-12). Peñasco is a lower seed despite a strong district season and multiple wins over Mesa Vista. The winner of that game will likely play No. 3 Laguna-Acoma (19-9), who beat Dulce three times over the past few weeks.
On the boys side, No. 6 Escalante (19-7) is the highest-seeded local team. They will rematch No. 11 Mesa Vista (16-12) after defeating the Trojans in the district championship game.
The winner of that game will face the winner between No. 3 Texico (15-12) and No. 14 Dulce (16-12). The Hawks snuck into the field after being on the bubble with a district tournament final win over Rehoboth Christian (15-10), who ended up seeded at No. 10.
And the McCurdy Bobcats (15-14) grabbed the last spot in the field at No. 16. They will have a first-round challenge against top-seeded Pecos (24-3).
In 4A, the Pojoaque Elks (16-11) did just enough to earn the No. 15 seed and make the tournament. Their first challenge comes against the defending champion, No. 2 Highland (20-7).
The Española Valley girls (12-15) just missed the field; two upsets in district tournaments grabbed automatic berths, and may have taken away the Sundevils’ spot.
At the end of the selection show, Jesse Boies gave his motivational speech to the team, telling them, “You deserve this.”
When Boies played at Coronado, he was on teams that came close but never won state, and told this team they do not want a similar fate. Assistant coach Moises Peña was on the 1986 Mesa Vista state championship team, immortalized on the wall in the gymnasium.
“Two weeks, four games,” Boies said to the team. “Four-game win streak and we’re champs.”