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Thursday, February 14, 2008
Bitter Undercurrent Plagues Rivalry
Mountain View Telegraph
The Estancia and East Mountain high school basketball teams have developed a rivalry.
However, the semiannual confrontations— accentuated by the boys and girls teams' assignments in the same district, 8-2A— don't seem to be a lot of fun.
The good-sized crowd at the boys' game at EHS on Tuesday was mostly quiet throughout the contest even when the visiting Timberwolves were making a game of it in the first quarter. Many of the Bears' fans were on hand for parents-night presentations and a Valentine's Day-themed halftime ceremony.
The lack of fervor might simply be due to the East Mountain squads being in a rebuilding status. The only players who seemed to enjoy themselves were the host Bears' bench players who flooded the court in the second halves.
On the other hand, the absence of enthusiasm could be because the Estancia faithful was disappointed its Bears didn't blow out their opponents right from the beginning.
Still, there is some underlying animosity between the two schools. It's quite unlike the hell-for-leather battles between Estancia and Class 1A Mountainair in which both sides seem to have a mutual respect for each other— even when the Bears win handily.
The EHS-EMHS feud is simmering just under the surface this season. The only time it spewed forth was late in the girls game when T'Wolves sophomore Rachel Sanderson and Bears freshman Desirae Ortiz briefly confronted each other as a reactionary Sanderson received an intentional foul, her fifth penalty overall, with 42 seconds left.
Sanderson walked away from the face-to-face encounter before it developed further.
Though few, if any, are willing to speak publicly about it, it all boils down to the haves and haves-not. Estancia is competitive; East Mountain is constructing its programs.
Hopefully, the tempered response from the bleachers on Tuesday was because no one really wanted it to be negative.
What the parties need to remember is that there are good kids at both schools, and there are honest, hard-working parents and teachers associated with both institutions.
By the way, the sixth-ranked Estancia boys defeated the T'Wolves 71-33. The No. 9 Lady Bears, in the late game, beat the EMHS girls 46-22.
The Estancia boys improved to 20-3, 4-0; and the Bears girls elevated to 15-8, 4-0. The T'Wolves boys descended to 5-16, 0-3; and the East Mountain girls fell to 5-16, 0-2.
"It's hard to say why we were so sluggish at the start," EHS boys and girls coach Mike Trujillo said.
The boys' scoring leaders were:
Estancia: R.J. Rice (24 points), David Ortiz (17) and Alan Gonzalez (10).
East Mountain: Andrew Ganger (nine) and Steven Wimberly (eight).
The top producers for the girls were:
Estancia: Desirae Ortiz (11) and Kaiya Coburn (eight).
East Mountain: Savanna Hands (15) and Cumorah Potter (three).
"I think we competed hard all night," Lady T'Wolves coach Jim Pendergast said.
Other recent results:
The East Mountain boys beat To'hajiilee 64-54 in a nondistrict game at Roosevelt Middle School on Jan. 31. Mike James had 21 points for EMHS.
No. 10 Bosque School defeated the EMHS boys 73-36 in a district game at Roosevelt on Friday.
The EMHS boys game at Los Lunas Valencia, originally set for Feb. 5, was canceled.
The Bosque girls defeated East Mountain 46-22, identical to the score on Tuesday, in 8-2A play at the Bobcats' campus on Feb. 7. Hands had 12 points.
Bears, T'Wolves hoops
Next Up:
East Mountain girls vs. Bosque School at Roosevelt Middle School, today, 6 p.m.
EMHS boys at Menaul, Friday, 5 p.m.
Estancia at Mountainair, Saturday: girls, 3:30 p.m.; boys, 5 p.m.
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