Karen Boehler
CCSR writer/editor
The four Chaves County high school teams still in the hunt for a state basketball title now know who and when they’ll play.
The Hagerman and Roswell girls open up early Tuesday morning, while the Roswell and Hagerman boys get to sleep in a little Wednesday before their opening matches.
And while some matchups seem easier than others, it’s the quarterfinal round of the state tournament that kicks off Tuesday, which means no games are easy.
Hagerman Girls
The Hagerman girls (24-4) open tournament play at the Santa Ana Star Center at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, a very early time coach Casey Crandall was actually hoping for.
“I don’t mind that at all,” he said.
The No. 5 Bobcats will open against No. 4 Peñasco, a 22-6 team that Crandall described as tall and quick.
“Peñasco’s pretty good,” he said. “They have a 6-1 girl and a couple of really good guards. It should be a pretty good game.”
While he said he’s still trying to get help from coaches who’ve faced the Panthers, he said they generally score a lot of points.
“They’re probably going to play pretty quick and they’re going to shoot well,” he said. “This will be the game where all the practice at playing a slow, controlled game is going to see if we got really good at it or not.”
Key for the ’Cats will be trying to control the ball and avoid turnovers to keep Peñasco from earning chances to score.
Hagerman is in the same side of the bracket as No. 1 Texico, so if the Bobcats get a win in their opening round, things won’t get much easier, as they’d most likely face No. 1 Texico Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
Roswell Girls
The No. 3 Lady Coyotes get to sleep in a little bit Tuesday, but they also have an early-morning matchup, facing No. 6 Volcano Vista at 9:45 a.m. at The Pit.
Coach Joe Carpenter said the Hawks won’t be an easy win.
“I just think we’ve got our hands full,” he said. “They’ve got some quality wins on their schedule.
They’re going to be real tough to beat. They’re well-coached. They’re going to run a lot of zone, I think, 2-3 zone, and that will make things very, very interesting. And I’m sure one of their game plans and goals will be to shut Shanice (Steenholdt) out, so we’ve got to do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Carpenter is happy with the No. 3 seed — which is where Roswell has been most of the season, even without Steenholdt — but he’s less happy with the early-morning game, saying, “It’s going to make a huge difference.”
“But there’s no excuses when you get to the state tournament,” he said. “I‘m sure Volcano Vista’s probably not used to playing or practicing at 9 a.m. in the morning just like we’re not. So it doesn’t really matter. It’s going to be a disadvantage for both of us, so we’re going to go out and play.”
A Tuesday victory would put the Lady Coyotes in the semifinal game Thursday, again at 9:45 a.m. at the pit, against the winner of the Shiprock/Piedra Vista game.
www.nmact.org/files/Basketball_Brackets_2010_Girls.pdf
Hagerman Boys
The last time a Hagerman team won a state basketball title was in 1923, so if the Bobcats win three more games, they’ll be doing something that hasn’t been done in 87 years.
But coach Anthony Mestas knows it’s not going to be easy.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “It’s going to be a difficult task, because once you get to that final four, any four of those teams will win it.”
After being ignored in the polls most of the season, the ’Cats (24-4) drew the No. 2 seed, which pits them against No. 7 Navajo Pine.
Mestas is pleased with the seeding, and while he hasn’t seen the Warriors (17-9) play in person or on film, from what he’s heard they sound like a 180 degree opposite of Hagerman.
“They’re kind of a more slow-down patient team that likes to run a zone. They’ve got some good shooters,” he said. “They’re kind of a more patient-oriented team. They try to pick apart a defense, as opposed to us, where we try to push the ball and press.”
In their regional round, Navajo Pine demolished Pecos 64-47, shooting 22 3-pointers. Four Warriors were in double figures, with three getting more than 15 points each.
“It’s going to be a good matchup for us,” Mestas said.
One big plus for the ’Cats, at least mentally, should be the fact they won the state AA track title last May, and followed that with a football championship last fall.
But the last time Hagerman went to state — in 2008 — they were also ranked No. 2 and fell to the No. 7 seed. So Mestas isn’t taking anything for granted.
“Anything can happen,” he said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a good experience for them.”
The Bobcats will face Navajo Pine at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Santa Ana Star Center. A victory would see them playing Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Pit, against the winner of the Tularosa/Mesa Vista match.
Roswell Boys
The one team that was expected to be at the state tournament — and is the odds-on favorite to win — was Roswell.
The Coyotes opened the season at No. 1 and never fell below that, going 24-2 on the season with the only two losses coming to out-of-state schools.
But even when they win by wide margins, coach Britt Cooper can always find some place for his team to improve, and he knows they’re going to have to be in top form to get that big trophy.
“We just need to be solid,” he said. “We need to get the ball inside as much as possible and use our size advantage, hopefully.”
They’ll open play Wednesday at 3 p.m. at The Pit against St. Pius, a team the Coyotes dethroned last year after three straight Sartan titles.
“There’s some tradition in the program,” Cooper said. “I’ve seen some film on them and we played them last summer. They’re not real big but they’ve got some good guards and they do things right. They’re well-coached.”
St. Pius is ranked No. 9, and defeated No. 8 Kirtland Central in the opening round.
But Cooper said the Coyotes are focused, and after Saturday’s victory over Chaparral, they all had one goal in mind: repeating as state champs.
www.nmact.org/files/Basketball_Brackets_2010_Boys.pdf
For more sports news, go to Chaves County Sports Report