McCurdy runs it up, Mesa Vista finishes the weekend strong and Penasco wins on the road in OT
Week 2: 2A District 5 Hoops
December 4th - December 9th
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| Mesa Vista's Jordan Gallegos finishes a drive with the left hand against Espanola Valley at the Sundevil Shootout Tournament. |
Monday, December 4th
Penasco, New Mexico
Dulce Hawks - 45
Penasco Panthers - 67
After a tough outing against an outstanding ATATC team to open the season, The Panthers welcomed the fellow 2A Dulce Hawks from District 1 to town. The Hawks finished last season with a 16-13 record and a first round loss in the state playoffs against Texico. They came into the game with Penasco with a 2-1 record this season, after a weekend at the Shiprock Chieftan Tournament, in Shiprock.
Penasco led after the first quarter, 18-10. The Hawks kept it close in the first half, down only eleven, 35-24. The Panthers turned it on in the second half and pulled away. They were led in scoring by Senior Forward Dylan Lopesz with 13 points. Forward Neamiah Chavez had a big game with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Guard Shia Romero had a good night directing the offense, scoring 9 points himself. Guard Kaileb Atencio did not have a big impact, with 5 points, on the offensive end, but had 5 steals and 3 rebounds on the defensive side. Demarcus Lopez also scored 10 points for Penasco. The Dulce Hawks got a good game out of Senior Forward James Johnson, who scored 14 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
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| Shout out to the Penasco Panthers mascot. Not sure of his name but he's a beast in the paint. Respect, young fella. |
Dulce Hawks at Penasco Panthers - Game Highlights
Tuesday, December 5th
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Penasco Panthers - 50
ECAOGCA Eagles (Albuquerque) - 71
The Panthers didn’t have much time to celebrate their first win of the season before heading down to Albuquerque to play the next night against the Evangel Christian Academy/Oak Grove Academy Eagles (Co-Op). ECAOGCA are a tough Class A team that won 19 games last season and made a first-round appearance in the state playoffs.
Report from Penasco Coach Tim Pacheco was that Angel Romero led the way for the Panthers with 14 points. Penasco Center Matias Vigil had a big game with double-double; 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Panthers kept it close well into the fourth quarter, down only 4 points with 3:45 left. Vigil then fouled out, and the Eagles went on a big run to end the game.
Tuesday, December 5th
Espanola, New Mexico
Chesterton Academy Saints - 11
McCurdy Bobcats - 93
The McCurdy Bobcats were the last team in the district to open their season, Tuesday night at home versus a Class A Chesterton Academy Saints (Albuquerque) program that’s only in its second season of existence. McCurdy comes into this season after a 15-15 season last year in which they finished third in the district and made a first round appearance against Pecos in the 2A state championship tournament.
The Bobcats dominated from start to finish in this one. Standout Junior Guard Ryan Montoya led the way for McCurdy with 28 points, including 4 of 8 from three. The Bobcats had five players score in double digits, including Ladarin Gutierrez who had 14 points to go with 3 steals. Forward Jeremaya Roybal added 13 points and pulled down 6 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. Lucas Martinez scored 11, and Emelio Espinoza scored 10 and nearly had a double-double with 8 steals to lead the way defensively for McCurdy.
For a team that likes to play fast and is able to score in high numbers, this had to be an ideal start for the Bobcats. McCurdy faces a 2-5 Cottonwood Canyon Prep team on Tuesday, December 12th. The Coyotes finished third in Class 3A District 5, last season.
Thursday, December 7th
Espanola, New Mexico
Mesa Vista Trojans - 63
Espanola Valley Sundevils - 71
The Trojans began the Sundevil Shootout Tournament on Thursday against the host, Espanola Valley Sundevils, in the first of three games against teams in a higher Class ranking. The Sundevils are a Class 4A team that finished with a 6-21 record last season.
This was a very fun game to watch. There was a large Mesa Vista presence in the crowd. The Trojans began the night well with a 16-12 lead after the first quarter. Mesa Vista’s outstanding Sophomore Center, Jordan Gallegos, had a big first half with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Mesa Vista led by 8 points midway through the second quarter. The Sundevils Guard Jerek Duda hit back to back three pointers to tie it at 27 all with 2:14 left, before the Trojans went into the half with a 32-29 lead.
The third quarter is when Espanola Valley really began their run with Duda hitting another three at the 5:25 mark to give them the 36-34 lead. Enough can’t be said about the game that Duda had. He finished with 29 points including 5 three pointers by my count. Duda also made an excellent assist to Wing Matthew Lovato in the corner alone for a three that made the score 46-40 with 2:00 left in the third. Keep Duda on your radar; an outstanding player.
Mesa Vista was far from done. The Trojans took the lead with 5:57 in the fourth quarter when Sophomore Guard Santiago Martinez made a big basket on a drive with the And 1. Martinez finished the three-point play to make it a 55-54 Trojans lead. The Sundevils came right back to tie it once again after another Duda three with 5:17 to go, making it 57-57.
Jordan Gallegos put Mesa Vista back on top after a drive and finished with a left hand off of some contact. That’s when Sundevils Senior Guard Jayden Duran basically took over the rest of the fourth quarter. With 3:00 left, Senior Wing Kevin Coffeen hit Duran in the corner for an open three. Duran hit a set of free throws before hitting another three with 00:40 left. After hitting another free throw, Duran finished with 9 points in the final three minutes of the game, and he finished the night with 15 points total. Clutch. All you can say.
Espanola Valley’s Sophomore Forward, Irvin Primero, had a good night with 11 points that came tough in the paint. Matthew Lovato added 10 points for the Sundevils. Espanola Valley improved to 1-2 with their first win of the season.
For Mesa Vista, another outstanding game by Jordan Gallegos who finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Senior Guard Marcos Martinez played big also, finishing with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. This early season non-district schedule for the Trojans is a tough one.
Mesa Vista Trojans at Espanola Valley Sundevils - Game Highlights
Friday, December 8th
Espanola, New Mexico
Roswell Coyotes - 82
Mesa Vista Trojans - 63
The second game of the weekend for Mesa Vista came against the Roswell Coyotes, a Class 5A team that finished 13-14 last season. The Coyotes came into the game against the Trojans with a 2-1 record in this short season.
Report from Coach Thomas Vigil is that the Trojans hung in with the Coyotes through three quarters before Roswell pulled away in the fourth.
Saturday, December 9th
Espanola, New Mexico
Mesa Vista Trojans - 69
Miyamura Patriots - 49
The third and final game of the Sundevil Shootout Tournament for Mesa Vista came against the Miyamura Patriots (Gallop), from Class 4A District 1. The Patriots finished with an 8-20 record during the 22-23 season.
Mesa Vista got out early with a 17-4 lead with 1:38 left in the first quarter. The Trojans got an outstanding game from Freshman Guard Ezequiel Nevarez who scored 14 points to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The Trojans got another big game out of Center Jordan Gallegos with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.
The Patriots began putting points on the board, chipping the lead down to 9, by the midway point of the second quarter. Mesa Vista continued scoring well, with 19 points in the third quarter to extend their lead to twelve.
Trojans Guard Santiago Martinez played big with 14 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. Forward Salvador Saavedra played well in the paint, scoring 10 points. Mesa Vista continued to pour it on, getting out to a twenty-three point lead with under three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
After a tough opening week to the season, Mesa Vista gets their first win, coming by twenty points, against a Class 4A team on a neutral court. If anything, the opening four games of the Trojans schedule should have prepared them well for their next game, Friday, December 15th, on the road in Pecos against 2022-2023 Class 2A State Champion, Pecos Panthers. Mark a spot in your calendar for this game. This writer certainly will be watching.
Saturday, December 9th
Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico
Penasco Panthers - 62
Jemez Valley Warriors - 55 (Overtime)
After getting their first win of the season on Monday at home against Dulce, and then a loss the next night on the road in Albuquerque playing ECAOGCA, this next game against the Jemez Valley Warriors was a chance to give Coach Tim Pacheco a good idea of where his team was at the early point in the season. The Class A District 7 Warriors came into the game with a 0-1 record on the new season, with a loss versus Cottonwood Classical Prep.
Once the game began, it was not pretty early. The Warriors began the first quarter with a 18-2 lead before the Panthers cut it to 20-12 by the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was more of the same, with Penasco struggling from outside. By halftime, the warriors had extended their lead back up to eleven points, 33-22. Jemez Valley got an excellent game out of Guard Malikai Magdalena, who scored 17 points in the first half, including 5 of 6 from three-point range. Magdalena finished the game with 23 points total.
In the third quarter, the Panthers were able to grab multiple offensive rebounds, allowing for much of their scoring in a game where their outside shooting was off. With 2:15 left in the third quarter, Kaileb Atencio scored on a quick inbounds pass to make it a two-point game, 39-37. The Warriors quickly jumped the lead back up to seven after a three from Sophomore Andrew Garcia, with 6:50 left in the fourth.
In this game, Penasco was like a boxer who wasn’t connecting on many punches, was taking a beating early from his opponent but kept hanging in there. Little by little, wearing the other guy down until he was out of gas. By the 3:25 mark of the fourth quarter, the Panthers had thrown enough jabs to cut the Jemez Valley lead to three after a finish in the paint by Sophomore Center Neamiah Chavez. Senior Forward Demarcus Lopez forced a turnover to Guard Angel Romero who flew down court for a finish in traffic, cutting the lead to one.
Jemez Valley wasn’t done, though. The Warriors extended the lead to 4 points by the 1:58 mark. Senior Forward Dylan Lopez then hit an enormous three pointer with 1:20 on the clock. The Panthers went up by one after another putback by Chavez. The Warriors hit a free throw to tie it at 51-51 before going into the fist overtime game of the District 5 season.
And then once overtime began, Neamiah Chavez took over for the Panthers. With 3:12 left, Chavez picked off a pass near the basket and made a half-court pass out in front to Demarcus Lopez for the finish. With 2:52 left, Chavez scored from an offensive rebound to give Penasco a three-point lead. With 2:05 left, Chavez scored on another putback from an offensive rebound.
Dylan Lopez made another big play, making a basket after an offensive rebound from a missed free throw to make it a five point game. Chavez made one more big play to seal it when he forced a turnover to Angel Romero. The Panthers held the Warriors to just 22 second half points. Coach Tim Pacheco gave credit to Guard Shai Romero, who played an outstanding game on defense, locking up Jemez Valley’s Magdalena in the second half for just 6 points. “Shia shut down 23 for us to come back”, Coach Pacheco said.
Both of the Romero brothers played well for Penasco, with Angel Romero finishing with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 7 steals. He is an outstanding ball handler with speed. Neamiah Chavez recorded a double-double, with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Demarcus Lopez led the Panthers in scoring with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Guard Kaileb Atencio had 10 points and 4 rebounds.
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| Penasco's Angel Romero puts the icing on the cake with a drive to put the Panthers up by seven points over Jemez Valley in overtime. |
In a game in which they were down 18-2 at one point and down by eleven points at halftime, Penasco came back and won it. On a night when the Panthers didn’t play their best game, they were still able to go on the road and finish. That’s a dangerous team. Big early season win. This has to give them confidence that they can hang in any game they’re in going forward.
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 area throughout the season, including recaps and game highlights, please visit, cwmartinsports.blogspot.com and youtube.com/@CWMartinSports.
All footage comes courtesy of nfhsnetwork.com.
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