Wednesday, Jan. 25
Girls Basketball: Coronado vs. NMSD
The Leopards have had their schedule thrown way out of whack with snowstorms in the area postponing or canceling multiple games in recent weeks. The Leopards retake the court with a rescheduled district game against New Mexico School for the Deaf (1-4).
Coronado features one of the most exciting under-the-radar players in the region in Ashlynn Jaramillo, who consistently scores 20 or more points per game (in the five games with statistics on MaxPreps, she averages 20.4 points per game).
The Leopards were never expected to be a top team a year removed from not having enough players to even field a team, and the two wins they have already recorded is a success. Adding wins against district foes would add to their success.
Thursday, Jan. 26
Girls Basketball: Peñasco vs. Escalante
Last year, the Panthers were the only team to beat Escalante in the district season, but the Lady Lobos got their revenge, winning easily in both the district tournament and in the state semifinals.
This year’s Escalante team (10-7, 1-1) is still looking to recapture that magic, having already lost to the Panthers (9-8, 2-0) at the NRG tournament, though they looked much stronger in the second half of their most recent game.
This could be an exciting battle in the post between Peñasco’s Annalise MacAuley, averaging 14 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, against Escalante’s Brycelyn Martinez (still recovering from a knee injury) — who leads Escalante in points (15.3 per game), rebounds (5.7), assists (3.5) and steals (4.3), though more recently Escalante has seen much more of a balanced scoring attack.
Boys Basketball: McCurdy vs. Mora
In the 2021-22 season, the Bobcats started the year slow, then picked up steam in the second half of the year to finish second in the district and make the state tournament. This year, McCurdy (7-11, 1-1) has the first part covered, and may be just starting on the second, having logged two wins in a row including a good win over Dulce.
The Mora Rangers (10-7, 2-0) have been one of the stronger teams in the North, with an up-tempo offense and ability to win close games. They started district play with two wins against two of the bottom teams, and look to continue their momentum as the schedule heats up. For McCurdy, a win would signal that they have arrived and are threats in every game they play.
Fri.-Sat., Jan. 27-28
Wrestling: Pojoaque Tournament
Ben Lujan Gymnasium will host 22 teams for a weekend wrestling tournament over Friday and Saturday with some of the state’s competition in attendance. The host Elks have been led by 160-pound wrestler Adryan Triana, who is 19-2 this season. Eighth grader Ben Duran is 13-2 this year at 121 pounds. Española Valley, who will be in attendance, has a smaller team that has limited them, but has a number of talented individuals. Cruz Sandoval, Landon Atencio and Kyle Coffeen all finished second at the state tournament a year ago, and look to improve further on that, while Noah Maez has also had a strong season at 20-6 at 139 pounds.