The basketball state brackets are available. Who prevailed?
As the regular season slips away from all of us, the prep basketball playoff fields were revealed on Sunday.
51 schools in all qualified both boys’ and girls’ teams for the postseason.
However, the release this year included an odd post-announcement twist.
The top two teams were seeded incorrectly, according to the New Mexico Activities Association, which was disclosed about 2.5 hours after the boys Class 4A tournament. There was Highland No. 2 and Valley No. 1 in the initial bracket. The bracket was changed after the NMAA declared that Highland ought to have been the first seed.
To win a state championship, Highland coach Justin Woody stated, “We have to play four good teams.” Thus, it is irrelevant what kind of seed is used.
EZ Panas, the valley coach, declined to comment.
In a statement to the Journal, NMAA executive director Sally Marquez claimed, “The overall records of the two teams were calculated incorrectly.” “Corrections were made as soon as the error was discovered.”
Boys: Volcano Vista will take on No. 16 Capital on Saturday in an attempt to complete the rarest of three-peats—so uncommon that no Albuquerque school in the largest division has ever managed this feat.
Atrisco Heritage at No. 4 and La Cueva at No. 5 are their main rivals in the top half of the Class 5A draw, though Volcano Vista would theoretically only need to defeat one of them. In the District 1-5A championship game on Saturday, the Jaguars came dangerously close to forcing OT against the Hawks, and during the past month, the Bears—a large, athletic, skilled team with excellent shooting—have been playing excellent basketball. There could be a quarterfinal matchup between those two.
La Cueva takes on a familiar opponent in its home opener: Eldorado, the 12 seed, and the intensity of this matchup. With Cody Vassar-Steen of the Scorpions and Latavious Morris of the Jaguars delivering the finest individual first-round matchup (in any bracket, in my opinion), Farmington is given the 13 and will travel to Atrisco Heritage.
Organ Mountain and Cleveland, as predicted, hold the 2-3 positions and support the bottom half of the draw. After Volcano Vista easily defeated the Knights at home on December 9, they have now won 25 straight games.
Los Lunas and Jalin Holland are No. 7, and open against Alamogordo. A potentially interesting quarterfinal at the Pit on March 13 could be Los Lunas vs. Organ Mountain. These two already have met twice, and the Knights won both, 50-44 and 48-45.
The Class 4A bracket is loaded with Albuquerque powers; in fact, the city occupies each of the top five lines.
Even after the bracket snafu, Highland and Valley still are seeded to meet up on March 16.
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