Next-to-last night of regular season provides wide range of emotions
Feb. 23—There was no overtime.
But there was a tie.
The third meeting of the prep basketball season between the boys from Highland and St. Pius did not require an extra four minutes, like their first two meetings did, but by the end of the sixth-ranked Sartans' 60-58 District 5-4A road victory at No. 2 Highland on Friday night, they were deadlocked all the same.
St. Pius (15-9, 7-1) and the Hornets (20-6, 7-1) will require a one-game playoff to settle the top two seeds for next week's district tournament. The game will be played at 6 p.m. Monday at La Cueva.
On the penultimate night of the 2023-24 regular season, any number of teams around the metro area were looking to clinch outright district championships on Friday.
Highland was one of them.
But the Sartans picked up consecutive 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter from Kenneth Zamora for a 49-44 lead, and St. Pius protected that lead from there.
The game was pretty tight throughout, with 12 lead changes and seven ties.
Crystian Perea had 12 points for the Sartans. Mason Montoya and Zamora both finished with 10 points.
Highland junior guard Jesus Licon led his team with 28 points, including five 3-pointers. He is only three away from tying Bryce Alford of La Cueva (2012-13) for most 3s in a single season by a player in the metro area. Alford sits at 131, Licon at 128 after Friday night.
Sandia's girls clinched the outright 2-5A crown on Friday, beating West Mesa 84-53.
Sydney Benally had a team-best 28 points for the Matadors (23-3, 9-1 in 2-5A), with Hope Giddings and Olivia Montano each adding 16 points.
The Matadors finished one game ahead of Farmington in the district standings.
There will be a playoff in 2-5A boys. The two teams who started the day tied for first place, La Cueva and West Mesa, both lost at home on Friday night.
Gad Harris of Sandia hit a late free throw, and Mason Howell blocked a couple of late Mustang shots near the end as the Matadors edged West Mesa 53-52.
At La Cueva, Eldorado's Josh Jackson had 30 points and 15 rebounds, and the visiting Eagles defeated the Bears 70-58.
La Cueva (18-8) and West Mesa (17-9) both finished 7-3 in district play, and will have a playoff game Monday at 6 p.m. at Sandia.
Valley's boys, the top-ranked team in Class 4A, clinched the District 6-4A championship on Friday. The Vikings, playing at home, rolled past Bernalillo, and Valley (21-5, 7-1) finished ahead of Hope Christian (18-8, 6-2) by a single game in the league standings. The Huskies closed out their regular season Friday, defeating Del Norte 52-44.
Volcano Vista's boys and girls, and Albuquerque Academy's girls, had clinched district titles earlier in the week.
Saturday marks the final day of the regular season, and there was one game in the metro area that appeared to have weight in Class 5A, the District 5-5A boys matchup at Bulldog City between Albuquerque High and Los Lunas. It tips off at 2 p.m.
But then that game was rendered moot on Friday night when Rio Grande upset Santa Fe 52-49.
The Demons' loss means that Los Lunas has clinched the outright 5-5A title, no matter what happens Saturday at AHS. The Tigers started Friday one game ahead of Santa Fe.
But the Bulldogs can tie Santa Fe for second place in the district if they defeat the Tigers.
District tournaments begin around the state begin on Monday, with title games later in the week. The state playoff brackets will be announced by the New Mexico Activities Association a week from Sunday, March 3.
