Big Weekend at the Dual Cities Tourney for District 5 and Escalante rolls over Navajo Pine
Week 5: New Mexico 2A District 5 Hoops Recap
December 25th - December 30th
Three District 5 teams visited Santa Rosa for the Dual Cities Tournament, and Escalante played on the road at Navajo Pine.
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| Escalante's Damein Baeza hits a three in the first half of their game against Navajo Pine. |
Thursday, December 28th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Tournament
Penasco Panthers - 77
Monte Del Sol Charter Dragons - 45
Penasco came into this game with a 2-4 record on the season, after a tough outing in Santa Rosa against the Lions within the last week on Friday. Regardless of the outcome of the game last week, Senior Guard Demarcus Lopez must have felt at home in Santa Rosa’s gym. Lopez went off, scoring 38 points for the Panthers against the Monte Del Sol Charter Dragons in the opening game of the weekend. “He couldn’t miss from three…it was something to see,” Penasco Coach Tim Pacheco said of Lopez.
Lopez started the night with 14 points in the first half. The third quarter was when Penasco really turned on the offense, outscoring the Dragons 24-14 and 45-24 in the second half. Lopez then scored 14 points in the third quarter alone and finished the fourth quarter with 10 points. Lopez hit seven three-pointers all together on the night. An individual scoring output like that is special. There aren’t many players in the district that can make baskets like that. Outstanding night for Demarcus Lopez.
Gursangat Bhandal played big for Monte Del Sol, scoring 25 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and handing out 3 assists. After the Penasco game, Bhandal was the third (known recorded) leading scorer in New Mexico Class 2A, with 17.5 points per game, according to MaxPreps. Devin Moore added 11 points for the Dragons Thursday night.
As a team, the Panthers scored a season high, seventy-seven points. Coach Pacheco has to be pleased with that type of offensive production on a weekend when they would absolutely need it. Penasco would get another shot at the host, Santa Rosa Lions in their next game of the Dual Cities Tournament.
Thursday, December 28th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Holiday Tournament
Questa Wildcats - 25
Mora Rangers - 64
The meeting of Questa and Mora in the Dual City Tournament was the first matchup between two 2A District 5 teams this season. The Mora Rangers came into this game with a 3-1 record that included wins over Monte Del Sol Charter, Raton and Maxwell. The Rangers’ only loss of the season came on opening night by only four points, against the defending 2A state champion Pecos Panthers.
There were no stats available from this game. Report was that Questa had a hard time stopping Mora Guard Lincoln Alcon. That sounds like every other team Mora faces these days. This is a Rangers team that is playing very well in the early season. The Rangers extended their win streak to four games in a row and improved to 4-1 after the win over a still rebuilding Questa team.
2023 Dual Cities Tournament Bracket
Friday, December 29th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Holiday Tournament
Questa Wildcats - 38
Cimarron Rams - 87
Questa’s next game in the Dual Cities Tourney came against the Class A Cimarron Rams, who had a 3-2 record on the year. The Rams came into the game with a victory over 2A District 5 team Mesa Vista on the season already.
There were no stats available from this game, but the Cimarron Rams sound like a buzzsaw right now. They scored 106 points in the next game they played against Cuba during the Dual Cities Tourney. Should be a tough go for any team they face this year.
Friday, December 29th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Holiday Tournament
Mora Rangers - 47
Des Moines Demons - 45
Mora’s next opponent was the 7-2 Des Moines Demons from Class A. In games with common opponents, Des Moines beat Raton 50-38 on December 2nd. The Rangers then beat Raton 57-56 on December 12th.
There were no stats available from this game. Mora improved their winning streak to five games in a row after the win over the Demons. The Rangers were 5-1 on the season.
Friday, December 29th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Tournament
Penasco Panthers - 44
Santa Rosa Lions - 65
Friday evening was a chance for Penasco to get another shot at fellow 2A team, the Santa Rosa Lions. Santa Rosa came into the game with a 5-3 record after a win over the Cuba Rams in the first round of the Dual Cities Tourney. The Lions also have two wins over the 2A District 5, McCurdy Bobcats in the month of December this season.
There were no stats available from this game. Santa Rosa notches their second twenty-plus point win of the season over Penasco.
Friday, December 29th
Navajo, New Mexico
Escalante Lobos - 68
Navajo Pine Warriors - 25
The one District 5 team to report on this week that was not a part of the Dual Cities Holiday Tourney was the 4-2 Escalante Lobos. The Lobos took the trip to play the fellow 2A Navajo Pines Warriors team from District 1. The Warriors came into the game with a 5-5 record on the season.
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| Senior Guard Luka Torrez finishes a lay up for Escalante during the first half against Navajo Pine. |
Escalante jumped out to a 21-4 lead after the first quarter. Senior Forward Greysen Horan scored 9 of his 15 points in the first half. The Lobos led 43-14 by the halftime break. Last season’s District 5 player of the year, Luka Torrez played an outstanding game, almost recording a triple-double, with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals. Damien Baeza also scored 8 points for Escalante, hitting several three pointers.
For Navajo Pine, Senior Guard Gentry Arthur played well, leading the Warriors with 14 points. Senior Forward Nehemiah McDaniel scored 7 points and grabbed 5 rebounds for Navajo Pine also.
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| This week's "Tip of the Hat" award goes to Navajo Pine's Gentry Arthur for this assist from the bottom of a pile to Kyle Catron for the lay in. Nice work, young fella. |
With the win, the Lobos are now 5-2 on the season. Their next game will be at an unlisted tournament beginning on Thursday, January 4th, which is probably the Northern Rio Grande Tourney in Espanola, but do not take my word for it.
Escalante Lobos at Navajo Pine Warriors - Game Highlights
Saturday, December 30th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Holiday Tournament
Monte Del Sol Dragons - 26
Questa Wildcats - 33
Questa’s final game of the weekend came against Monte Del Sol. After a few tough games to start, the Wildcats were able to get a win before leaving back home from Santa Rosa. Questa was led in scoring by Senior Guard Nathaniel Rael with 10 points. Junior Guard Carlos Ortega scored 9 points, and Junior Forward Jacob Vallejos scored 6 points.
For a team still building a foundation with a first year head coach, every one of these wins matter. They might not be explosive offensively, but Questa is winning close games this season that they may not have won in the last few seasons. There’s something to the repetition of winning close games. It will serve Questa well going into the rest of the season. The Wildcats improved to 3-5 with the win.
Questa’s next listed game is on the road in Springer, on Tuesday, January 9th. The Red Devils current win streak over the Wildcats stands at thirteen games in a row, going all the way back to December of the 2016-17 season. Is this next game the one that snaps the streak? We will see.
Saturday, December 30th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Holiday Tournament (3rd Place Game)
Penasco Panthers -
Des Moines Demons - (Score to be Updated Later)
Following a tough loss to the host Santa Rosa Lions, the Panthers took on a good 7-3 Des Moines team that lost a one-possession game to Mora the day before.
Report is that Des Moines won the game by a lot. No stats or score were available from this game. Penasco falls to 3-6 on the season.
The Penasco Panthers next listed game is on Tuesday, January 9th, at home against the ECAOGCA Eagles (Albuquerque). The Panthers lost the first matchup between the two in early December, 71-50.
Saturday, December 30th
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Dual Cities Holiday Tournament (Championship Game)
Mora Rangers - 50
Santa Rosa Lions - 55
The final game of the Dual Cities Holiday Tournament came on Saturday night, with the red hot Mora Rangers riding a five-game win streak into the championship game of the Santa Rosa tourney. Santa Rosa were 6-3 going into this game. I’m sad to say, there were no stats or any information about the game available. These are two very good teams.
I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but this Santa Rosa team is sharp this year. Their only loss to a 2A team coming into this game was against the still undefeated, 7-0, Tularosa Wildcats.
The Mora Rangers fell to 5-2 on the season after the loss to the Lions and are tied for first place in District 5 with Escalante. The Rangers’ next game will come at the Northern Rio Grande Tournament in Espanola, beginning January 4th.
Current 2A District 5 Standings
As always, any notifications of any mistakes or needed corrections are very welcomed at cwmartinsports@gmail.com.
For more coverage of 2A District 5 and other Class 2A teams, as well as teams from around the state of New Mexico throughout the season, including recaps and game highlights, please visit cwmartinsports.blogspot.com and youtube.com/CWMartinSports.
All footage and photos come courtesy of nfhsnetwork.com.
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