While the Sundevils were absent from the state tournament, plenty of local Rio Arriba County athletes and coaches made their mark on the championship week in Albuquerque.
Foremost among them was sophomore Kenyon Aguino, a 6-foot-7-inch forward for Volcano Vista. Not everyone watching knew that Aguino is originally from San Juan Pueblo, and went to middle school at Santa Fe Indian School before moving to Albuquerque.
Aguino hit the game-winning basket in a 5A boys semifinal win over Organ Mountain with 13 seconds remaining. And he again led the team in the final with 17 points, carrying them to a 43-31 victory. He also had 11 rebounds. Aguino was named the 5A tournament MVP by Inside the 505 Podcast. Just think about the impact he could have playing for a local team.
Speaking of Santa Fe Indian School, their girls team made the 3A finals, taking second place for the second year in a row. The Lady Braves are led by plenty of local athletes, including all three captains. Leading scorer sophomore Emma Lewis is from Tesuque. Senior Jalen Abeyta hails from Ohkay Owingeh, and Madisen Valdez is from Jicarilla Apache. Ali Ortiz, who had clutch moments in a semifinal upset win over Navajo Prep, comes from Santa Clara.
Then there were the coaches, plenty of whom came from or previously lived in Rio Arriba.
Lisa Villareal, the now-legendary coach of Volcano Vista’s girls program, finished shy of her sixth state championship when the Lady Hawks lost 52-45 in the state final to Hobbs. Villareal was born in Alcalde, and starred at Española Valley High School in three sports. She also coached basketball and softball for the Sundevils in the early 2000s. Looking back, letting her go might have been a mistake.
In boys 2A, another second-place finisher came from the area. Bobby Romero, the former Española girls coach (who I’m told is originally from Peñasco), is now in Santa Fe at Academy for Technology and the Classics. The school not only made the state tournament for the first time in school history, but were the No. 2 seed. They gave the heavily favored Pecos Panthers a run for their money in the final, leading by 11 at halftime but losing by three.
James Branch, who coached the Española boys team for two years but was surprisingly dismissed, moved on to Robertson and found success there. He was looking for a second-straight boys 3A title with the Cardinals, but in the championship game ran into a behemoth of a St. Michael’s team on a 21-game win streak. The Horsemen won 66-49 after the Cardinals took a double-digit lead in the first half.
And finally, Sandia Prep boys are also coached by a local, Marcos Rivera, a Pojoaque grad who led those Sundevils to another strong season, reaching the semifinals before losing to St. Michael’s.
Rio Arriba seniors named all-stars
A large group of local basketball players were named to the New Mexico High School Coaches Association all-star teams.
The top seniors from big and small schools around the state will compete in Gallup this weekend.
For the boys 3A/4A teams, Derek Sanchez will play for the Red team after a season where he led the Elks with 25 points per game. And Jaydn Martinez will represent the Sundevils, playing for the Green team.
Mesa Vista will send Jordan Cervantes for the boys 1A/2A team, while Amarissa Quintana plays for the girls. Dulce has Sidneyanne Becenti for the girls and Bob Harrison, Jr. for the boys.
Escalante has their point guard, Tomas Atencio, playing for the boys. On the girls side Brycelyn Martinez and Cipriana Garcia will play on opposing teams — something they are not used to. Surprisingly, Emma Maestas from the Lady Lobos was not chosen.
Plenty of these teams could have more representatives, but the all-star game only represents seniors, so they will have their chance in the coming years.