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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Bears Teams On Way to Titles

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    The Estancia High boys and girls basketball teams appear to be headed to consecutive District 8-2A titles.
    "I think so," EHS girls and boys coach Mike Trujillo said. "I really hope so, so we can we can play at home in the first round of state. We have a rough (matchup) in the first round with the Santa Rosa-Texico District (6-2A). It'll be a lot tougher if we have to play them at their place."
    The sixth-ranked EHS boys' record is 19-3, 3-0. The Texico boys are ranked third, and Santa Rosa is at No. 5.
    The Lady Bears, unofficially 11th, are 14-8, 3-0. The Texico girls are ranked No. 1, and the Santa Rosa girls are sixth.
    "But we still need to be concerned about Bosque School in our district, both the boys and the girls," Trujillo said.
    The Estancia boys and girls previously beat the Bobcats on Jan. 25. Both sets of Bears will again play Bosque, this time at the private school on Albuquerque's West Side on Feb. 21.
    The games will be Estancia's final regular-season contests.
    The Bears boys defeated Menaul twice in recent district play. EHS knocked off the Panthers 41-35 on the road on Jan. 30, and the Bears overwhelmed Menaul 61-44 at EHS on Tuesday.
    The Bears boys have been clicking on all cylinders. But Trujillo is still looking for improvement.
    "The boys need to work on their patience against the zone," he said. "Our zone offense still needs some work."
    The Lady Bears beat the Panthers 40-28 at Menaul on Jan. 30, and pummeled the Panthers 49-14 on Tuesday.
   
Mountainair girls
    The Lady Mustangs (7-13, 3-3), for their third straight victory, defeated Corona 66-22 in a District 7-1A game in Mountainair on Jan. 31
    However, in later district action, Carrizozo beat the 'Stangs 61-39 at the Grizzlies' gym on Friday, and Hondo Valley edged Mountainair 36-35 in Torrance County on Saturday.
    The Mustangs also played at Class 1A Temple Baptist on Monday. Mountainair coach Dwayne Roberts did not immediately return the Telegraph's phone calls seeking the result from the game against the Roadrunners.
   
Mountainair boys
    The Mustangs (10-11, 4-2) swept past Corona 48-28 in Mountainair on Jan. 31.
    Carrizozo defeated the 'Stangs 48-33 on the Grizzlies' court on Friday.
    "We can't seem to get a win against ('Zozo)," Mountainair coach Kenneth Branch said. "But one of these days we're going to get them."
    The Mustangs beat Hondo Valley 71-62 in the Mustangs' gym on Saturday.
    "The one against Hondo was a good game," Branch said. "It actually went into overtime."
    Mountainair got off to a slow start in the first half.
    "But we came out swinging in the second half," the coach said. "We had a seven-point lead with two minutes to go (in regulation), but we let them back in it.
    "Then in the overtime, we played our game," Branch continued. "And we hit some free throws. Victor Romero really stepped up in that game."
    Mountainair concluded a busy few days with a 79-55 loss at Temple Baptist on Monday.
   
East Mountain girls
    The Lady Timberwolves (5-14) dropped two nondistrict games in their latest matchups.
    To'hajillee defeated EMHS 51-37 at Roosevelt Middle School on Jan. 31.
    Los Lunas Valencia edged the T'Wolves 29-27 in the Jaguars' gym on Tuesday. It was a heartbreaker.
    "We came out, and for some reason, we didn't play in the first quarter," East Mountain coach Jim Pendergast said. "We were down 12-1, 12-3, something like that.
    "But we came back, and we were down by 2 at the half," the coach continued. "After that, we stayed pretty even. We played pretty even right down to the last shot. We had three chances to tie it up at the end. We just didn't make the shots. We did everything but win it."
    The Timberwolves' opening District 8-2A game against Bosque School, which was postponed from Jan. 29 due to the weather, will now be played on Feb. 14 at Roosevelt.
   
EMHS boys
    The Timberwolves lost their first district game on Friday.
    Bosque School defeated East Mountain 75-36 at the Bobcats' gym.
    T'Wolves coach Wade Swift did not immediately return phone calls seeking the results from the nondistrict games against To'hajiillee on Jan. 31 and Valencia on Tuesday.