Mora bags and tags the Bears, Escalante dominates again and Questa gets another early season W

Week 4: 2A District 5 Hoops

December 18th - December 23rd

It was a slow week leading up to the Christmas break.  Only six games on the schedule to recap.  Here we go.

Mora's Santiago Gold hits a baseline jumper during the second half against the Maxwell Bears.

Tuesday, December 19th

Espanola, New Mexico

Santa Rosa Lions - 77

McCurdy Bobcats - 69

The Bobcats played the Lions for the second time within a week; first at the tourney in Tularosa, and at home in Espanola on Tuesday night.  The Bobcats came out ready in this one, leading after the first quarter and at halftime, 37-30.  

McCurdy got another big game out of Lucas Martinez, who scored 21 points and added 4 assists and 4 steals.  This was the third game in a row in which Martinez had scored over twenty points.  Ryan Montoya also played well, scoring 20 points and grabbing 8 steals for the Bobcats.  Jeremaya Roybal added 15 points and 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals.  

The Bobcats held onto a 60-55 lead, before being outscored 23-9 in the fourth quarter.  After losing by sixteen in the first match up, the Bobcats played a closer game, cutting the margin to nine points this time, losing 78-69 to an outstanding Santa Rosa team.  There were no stats available from that outstanding Santa Rosa Lions team.

Thursday, December 21st

Espanola, New Mexico

Pecos Panthers - 60

McCurdy Bobcats - 50

The Bobcats then welcome the defending 2A State Champion Pecos Panthers to Espanola.  The Panthers came into this game with a 4-3 record on the season, including a win over fellow District 5 team, the Mora Rangers, on opening night, by just four points.  Even though the Panthers lost nine seniors from last year’s championship team, they still look like a contender again this year, which is par for the course with a program that has won the state title three out of the five years they’ve been in Class 2A, after changing classes from 3A beginning in the 18-19 season.     

Pecos was up 28-18 at halftime, but McCurdy pulled to within three points by the end of the third quarter.  With the score 39-36 going into the fourth, the Panthers had a big fourth quarter scoring 21 points to finish it off. 

Guard Lucas Martinez led the way for the Bobcats, scoring 14 points.  Guard Ryan Montoya added 12 points, Guard Judah Duran scored 11 points and Forward Jeremaya Roybal had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  

There were no stats available for the Pecos Panthers team.

The Bobcats have to be optimistic about their season going into January, with a 3-4 record.  The games McCurdy lost were against a Santa Rosa team that will be contending for a state title this year, and the defending 2A state champions in Pecos.  Ruidoso is also a good program that went to the 3A state playoffs last season.  Those are all good teams.  The Bobcats should be sharp going forward.

McCurdy will have the rest of the year off and then play in the Northern Rio Grande Tournament, beginning on January 4th, at home in Espanola, but down the street at the Espanola Valley gym.

Thursday, December 21st

Questa, New Mexico

Coronado Leopards - 39

Questa Wildcats - 46

In Questa, Coach Mike Rael is trying to overhaul the culture within the program, which is needless to say a tough job.  The one sure way to get players to buy into a new system is by winning.  Plain and simple. 

The Wildcats continued working on building a winning culture against a Coronado team that they’ve had success against in the past, winning big against them last season and earlier this season in Gallina.  The Wildcats were in control from the start in this game, leading 16-8 after the first quarter, and 27-18 at the half.  The Wildcats were led in scoring once again by Senior Forward Antonio Romero with 14 points.  Nathaniel Rael added 7 from the Guard position.  Esteban Gomez and Noah Rael each scored 4 points also.  

It wasn’t just the Wildcats starters that played minutes.  Player development is also a big part of rebuilding a program.  The Wildcats were able to play 15 players total giving valuable experience to their bench in a game that was still contentious. 

In the second half, Questa led 42-25 after the third before the Leopards had a big fourth quarter, outsourcing the Wildcats, 14-4.  Despite the big fourth from Coronado, the Wildcats were able to hang on for a seven-point victory. This was a big win for a program that needs the early season momentum going into the second month of play, which will include games against fellow District 5 opponents.  Questa improves to 2-3 on the season.  The Wildcats are off to a good start with these two wins over Coronado, having matched last season’s win total within just their first five games this season.  

The Wildcats will have their work cut out for them, with their next game coming against the rival Mora Rangers at the Dual City Tournament in Santa Rosa, on Thursday, December 28th.

Thursday, December 21st

Maxwell, New Mexico

Mora Ranges - 45

Maxwell Bears - 38

Mora entered the game against Maxwell with a 2-1 record on the short season, with the only loss coming on opening night against the defending state champions.  Maxwell is another good program that reached the first round of the Class A state playoffs last season.  Similarly to the Raton game, Mora exerted themselves early in this one, leading after the first quarter and were up 17-5 early in the second quarter.  Mora Forward Jeremiah Pacheco was dominant on the boards in the first half with 8 rebounds.  He finished the game with 6 points and 10 rebounds. 

Mora's Jeremiah Romero sinks a jump shot in transition in the first half of their game against Maxwell.

Mora led at the half, 19-12.  This wasn’t a game with a ton of points, but Mora doesn’t seem to mind those games.  They’re a team that’s able to get those tough baskets in close games routinely.  A player that makes a lot of those buckets is Senior Guard, Lincoln Alcon.  Enough can’t be said about the way Alcon is playing in this early part of the season; as high of a level as anyone in the district right now.  Alcon finished with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.  

The Bears cut the lead to one, 29-28 after the third quarter behind the outstanding play of Senior Guard Rowen Floyd, who went 3 of 6 from three point range, and finished the game with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  Junior Forward Chris Hoy also played well for the Bears with 10 points, several coming on long three-point shots.  Also, shout outs to Bears Guard JJ Apodaca for a ridiculous finish off the glass on a drive in the fourth quarter between three Mora defenders.

Shout outs to Maxwell's JJ Apodaca for this ridiculous finish off the glass in the second half versus Mora.

In the end, it wasn’t enough for the Bears.  Senior Forward Santiago Gold played big in the second half for the Rangers, scoring all 8 of his points in that half.  Gold hit several timely shots to keep Maxwell from getting all the way back into it during their run in the second half.  A takeaway from this game is that Mora can run with the fast teams, and grind it out with the physical teams.  The Rangers improved to 3-1 to start the season, with all four games having come on the road.  

With this Mora team playing like they are now, and Manuel Romero coaching, the Rangers are looking like a team that could win the district this year.  Mora will play next in the Dual City Tournament in Santa Rosa versus their District 5 rivals, the Questa Wildcats.

Mora Rangers at Maxwell Bears - Game Highlights

Friday, December 22nd 

Santa Rosa, New Mexico

Penasco Panthers - 45

Santa Rosa Lions - 68

There was no information available from this game.  The Panthers fall to 2-4 on the season after the loss to an outstanding Santa Rosa team that is likely to make waves in the state playoffs this season.  

Penasco will play next in the Dual City Tournament in Santa Rosa on Thursday, December 28th, against the 2-7 Monte Del Sol Charter Dragons.  In games against common opponents this season, Penasco beat the Dulce Hawks, 67-45 in earlier this month.  Monte Del Sol then beat Dulce at home, 38-29, a few weeks later.  

Saturday, December 23rd

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Escalante Lobos - 62

NACA Eagles (Albuquerque) - 21

The Escalante Lobos came into this game with a 3-2 record in the early part of this season, with wins over Estancia, Quemado and Mescalero Apache.  It feels like an eternity since the Tohatchi game on November 28th, in which I last saw the Lobos play.  Not having been able to watch Escalante play these last few early season games is enough of a reason to write your Congressman and demand NFHS live stream cameras in every high school gymnasium in the state.  The defending District 5 champion Lobos are an outstanding team and fun to watch.  

The Lobos dominated from the get go, leading 25-9 after the first quarter.  There were no stats available from this game. With the win, the Lobos have improved to 4-2 on the season, and 2-0 against teams from 2A District 2.  The Lobos will play the ATC Phoenix (Santa Fe) from that same district, later in January, on the road in Santa Fe.

Escalante will next play their next game against the 2A District 1, Navajo Pine Warriors on Friday, December 29th on the road.

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.

Following the overwhelmingly positive response from readership after last week’s Townes Van Zandt video, here is another Townes song, for the second week in a row, to play us out.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone out there, and thanks again for reading.