New Mexico’s Top Matchups In Week Six
In this article:
Heading into week six of the high school basketball season, we preview the top matchups of the week of Monday December 26th to Saturday December 1st. Tuesday December 27th, 2022: Las Cruces (6-3) vs Valencia (5-7) at 7:30pm David Cruz…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingHeading into week six of the high school basketball season, we preview the top matchups of the week of Monday December 26th to Saturday December 1st.
Tuesday December 27th, 2022:
Las Cruces (6-3) vs Valencia (5-7) at 7:30pm
David Cruz David Cruz 5'9" | CG Las Cruces | 2024 NM and the Las Cruces Bulldawgs come into this game winning back-to-back games. The lights out three-point shooter is coming off an excellent 21-point performance last time out vs Silver. After a slow start to the season, Valencia has won four of their past six games. They will be led by Forward Ali Abdullah Ali Abdullah 6'5" | PF Valencia | 2023 State NM who is averaging 14.6 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game which both lead the team. Despite being 5-7 this season, the Valencia Jaguars have been in their share of close games. Six of their seven losses have been by 7 points or less and are better than what their record currently says. The Las Cruces have won two games this season in overtime and their only losses have come to contenders in the 4A and 5A classes. Expect this to be a really competitive game.
Wednesday December 28th, 2022:
Cleveland (7-1) vs Artesia (2-5) at 9:45am
The Cleveland Storm have been one of the state’s hottest teams to start the season. They are led by their star backcourt; Daniel Steverson Daniel Steverson 6'2" | SG Cleveland | 2024 State #315 Nation NM and Remy Albrecht Remy Albrecht 5'6" | PG Cleveland | 2026 State NM . Daniel Steverson Daniel Steverson 6'2" | SG Cleveland | 2024 State #315 Nation NM is averaging 23.8 points per game and Remy Albrecht Remy Albrecht 5'6" | PG Cleveland | 2026 State NM is averaging 17.8 points per game. They account for 41.6 of their teams 51.1 points per game. They are one of the highest scoring duos in the state so far this season. They will be going against Nick Sanchez Nick Sanchez 5'11" | PG Artesia | 2023 State NM from Artesia High School who is having a stellar season himself averaging 18.6 points per game as a senior this year. If Artesia wants to win this game, they’ll need to take some pressure off Nick Sanchez Nick Sanchez 5'11" | PG Artesia | 2023 State NM .
Hope Christian (5-1) vs St. Pius X. (5-3) at 1:00pm
This is a 4A matchup between two of the top ten teams in their respective class. This game will come down to the two stars from each team. Jett Wyckoff Jett Wyckoff 6'3" | SF Hope Christian | 2023 State NM from Hope Christian vs Brian Kalb Brian Kalb 6'8" | PF St Pius | 2023 State NM from St. Pius X. Both players lead their respective teams in scoring and get it done in different ways. Jett Wyckoff Jett Wyckoff 6'3" | SF Hope Christian | 2023 State NM is a versatile wing who can score inside and outside who plays bigger than what he is. Brian Kalb Brian Kalb 6'8" | PF St Pius | 2023 State NM is most often the biggest player on the court and use his nice touch around the basket to make most of his damage. It will be interesting to see which player can get the better of the other.
Thursday December 29th, 2022:
West Mesa (6-3) vs Cibola (2-8) at 7:00pm
The West Mesa Mustangs have won five of their last six games and the Cibola Cougars are coming off winning their second game of the season last time out. The wing matchup will be the most intriguing of the night for me between Elijah Brody Elijah Brody 6'2" | SF West Mesa | 2024 State NM from West Mesa and Elijah Foster Elijah Foster 6'4" | CG Cibola | 2024 State NM from Cibola. Both are around the same size and can play multiple positions on the floor. Elijah Foster Elijah Foster 6'4" | CG Cibola | 2024 State NM is Cibola’s best player and Elijah Brody Elijah Brody 6'2" | SF West Mesa | 2024 State NM is West Mesa’s biggest difference maker. Both players score the ball really well and can put the basketball on the floor to attack the rim. They can each rebound nicely for their teams and run the offense as the point-forwards. It will be fun seeing each player go at the other all night long.