Demons get best gift of all -- a state home opener
Feb. 28—There is a Santa Claus, Santa Fe High Demons.
Kris Kringle brought them the best gift of all for the Class 5A State Tournament — a home game.
When the 5A bracket was announced Sunday evening, members of Demons Nation could celebrate as they didn't have to pack their bags — or even pack it in for the season — to hit the road for the opening round of the state tournament. The eight-seed Santa Fe High received for the tournament means it will host a home game Saturday against No. 9 Albuquerque Sandia.
For much of the past two weeks, the consternation around the program the was that the two District 5-5A losses to Los Lunas would end up being an albatross around the Demons' neck. But as the Tigers' profile continued to rise amid a closing 12-game winning streak, Santa Fe High's prospects of a home game rose with it.
When Los Lunas received the sixth seed in the 5A bracket, it practically ensured the Demons a home game. However, Santa Fe High might not be at full strength, as the health of senior forward P.J. Lovato hangs in the balance after he fell hard on his right hand in the district championship.
A healthy Lovato would be useful in keeping the Demons' season alive past the weekend.
The Demons will be one of two Santa Fe teams with home games for the opening round of the postseason. St. Michael's, which was once 2-12 and flirting with the possibility of missing out on the 3A state tournament, grabbed the fourth seed after winning 11 of its last 13 games.
Its lone losses in that stretch were to the state's second-seeded team, Las Vegas Robertson. But the placement of the Horsemen sets up the possibility of an all-District 2-3A championship.
Sure, Socorro is the No. 1 seed, but faithful followers of 3A only have to search their memory banks from November. That's when the Horsemen upset a 1-versus-2 matchup with the Cardinals in the state football playoffs by upsetting undefeated and No. 1 Raton in the semifinals.
If St. Michael's gets past No. 13 Tohatchi in the opening round in Perez-Shelley Gymnasium and the winner of No. 5 Navajo Prep and No. 12 West Las Vegas in the quarterfinals, it would be an upset of No. 1 Socorro away from repeating that feat.
In a watered-down 3A bracket, the horse race is down to three teams — the Warriors, the Cardinals and the Horsemen.
Class 2A has a familiar face about to resurface as a force to be reckoned with in the Pecos Panthers. A year removed from losing in the 2A semifinals to Jal, Pecos grabbed the No. 2 seed on the strength of a tougher schedule than No. 3 Rehoboth, which plays No. 14 McCurdy in the opening round.
The Panthers had the toughest strength of schedule in 2A, according to MaxPreps.com's Freeman rankings (1.7), and had wins over Escalante, Estancia and Tucumcari. The latter win ended up benefiting Pecos, as the Rattlers played their way into the 3A bracket by beating Dexter for the 4-3A tournament championship.
Pecos opens the tournament with an opening-round game against No. 15 Peñasco, which it beat twice during the regular season.
On the other side of the bracket is No. 4 Escalante, which plays No. 13 Santa Rosa to open the tournament. The Lobos are the 5-2A champion and have won 13 of their last 14 games.
Meanwhile, a 2-4A showdown in the 4A semifinals looms, as Taos learned the No. 2 seed and Española Valley the third seed. However, the prospect of a fourth meeting between the heavyweights could be thwarted before it even begins.
Taos plays No. 15 Albuquerque Hope Christian, which it beat by 13 in the Hope Christian Invite championship in January, while the Sundevils face a No. 14 Los Alamos squad that upset them on Feb. 11 in Griffith Gymnasium.
But that's a worst-case scenario.
Right now, the lenses through which most teams see their postseason prospects are filled with rosey futures.
