2A Boys State Tournament Preview

<p>The New Mexico High School Basketball State Tournament starts this Saturday March 5th, and this article will go over the Boys 2A Bracket consisting of 16 teams and 8 matchups. The First Round is Saturday March 5th, the Quarterfinals are Tuesday March 8th, the Semifinals are Friday March 11th and the Championship games are Saturday March 12th.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#1 Tularosa vs #16 Mescalero Apache</strong></span></p> <p>Tularosa secured the #1 overall seed in the Boys 2A Tournament. They finished the regular season 24-2 and won the district title going undefeated at 8-0 this season. They were led by Travis Henderson who averaged 18.9 points per game this season. Mescalero Apache clinched the #16 seed with their 15-12 record in the regular season and 5-5 record in district play. They were led by seniors Dewey Pollock, Jerian Lapaz and Duncan Balatche.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#8 Estancia vs #9 Lordsburg</strong></span></p> <p>Estancia went 19-5 this season and finished 2nd in district with a 8-2 record in district play. They are led by Seniors Roman Moran, Nathaniel Montoya, Kody Larson, Abelino Ortiz, Bryan Munoz and Juri Burelsmith. Lordsburg finished as the 9th seed in this state tournament with a 16-6 record in the regular season and second in district going 5-3. Quincy Connor led the way averaging 25.9 points per game this season. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#5 Menaul vs #12 Dulce</strong></span></p> <p>Menaul went 19-4 in the regular season and won their district title with an impressive 9-1 record in district. Maximus Mkpa averaged 15.2 points per game, Brandon Oloumou averaged 11.1 points per game and Prashant Chouhan averaged 10.7 points per game this season. Dulce secured the 12th seed in this years state tournament after finishing 15-8 in the regular season. They were led by team captains Isaiah Reval and DeAundre Gonzales. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#4 Escalante vs #13 Santa Rosa</strong></span></p> <p>Escalante went 21-5 in the regular season and won their district title going undefeated in district play at 10-0. This team was led by senior star, [player_tooltip player_id="1076692" first="Santiago" last="Rivas"] who averaged 23.5 points per game this season and Luka Torrez who averaged 13.0 points per game. [player_tooltip player_id="1076696" first="Chris" last="Luna"] is also averaging around 10 points per game this season as well. Escalante is a real threat to win the 2A State Championship. Santa Rosa secured the 13th seed in this years tournament and went 15-13 this season. This team was led by Marcos Chavez and Andres Madrid. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#3 Rehoboth Christian vs #14 McCurdy</strong></span></p> <p>Rehoboth Christian is coming off an excellent regular season where they were the district champs, they fished 21-3 this season and secured the 3rd seed in this years tournament. They were led by seniors Talon West, Mato Chapman, Isaac Zwiers and Tyler Keedah. McCurdy went 13-12 this season was was led by one of the states top ranked players [player_tooltip player_id="1076723" first="Markus" last="Martinez"]. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#6 Jal vs #11 Clayton</strong></span></p> <p>Jal is one of the most underrated teams in this 2A tournament. They finished with a 17-5 record and district champions after having a 7-1 record in district play. They were led by [player_tooltip player_id="1076714" first="Jacob" last="Lujan"] who led the team in scoring by averaging 13.1 points per game, Rogelio Carreon averaging 10.9 points per game and [player_tooltip player_id="1076726" first="Alexavier" last="Carreon"] averaging about 10 points per game. Clayton finished 12-9 and secured the 11th seed. They were led by team captain Rylan Ruf. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#7 Hagerman vs #10 Texico</strong></span></p> <p>Hagerman had a solid regular season going 21-3 this season and they finished second in their district with a 6-2 record. They are led by their junior star, [player_tooltip player_id="1076707" first="David" last="Chacon"]. David is the teams leading scorer averaging 13.2 points per game this season. Texico finished 13-12 this season and were led by their team captains Cade Collins and Brayden Bender. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#2 Pecos vs #15 Penasco</strong></span></p> <p>Pecos secured the #2 overall seed in this years state tournament. They finished with a 21-6 overall record and won their district tile going undefeated with a 6-0 record.  They were rewarded the 2nd seed by participating in the toughest district in the 2A Class with every team making the state tournament. They were led by junior star, [player_tooltip player_id="1076718" first="Jodaiah" last="Padilla"] who has helped Pecos win their last 13 games in a row. Penasco comes into this game as the 15th seed after going 16-12 in the regular season. They are led by their seniors Elijah Lucero and Alan Pyne. </p>