Week Five’s Top Matchups of the Week

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now that we're going into Week Five of the High School Basketball season in New Mexico, there is several teams that are starting to hit their stride before the Christmas Holiday. Week Four was full of more exciting matchups from around the State and this upcoming week has several more intriguing non-district matchups across New Mexico. This week's matchups will take place from Monday December 19th to Saturday December 24th.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Tuesday December 20th, 2022:</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Valencia (5-6) vs Los Lunas (6-1) at 2:00pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A Los Lunas rivalry that is a 5A and 4A matchup Tuesday Night. After a slow start to the season, Valencia High School has won four off their previous five game. The Loss Lunas Tigers own a Top Five record in the 5A Class. The Tigers will be led by Guard [player_tooltip player_id='1176298' first='Jalin' last='Holland'] who's averaging over 20 points per game as a sophomore who is having an excellent season. The Jaguars will be led by Forward [player_tooltip player_id='1076720' first='Ali' last='Abdullah'] who leads the team in scoring and rebounding this season. The athletic forward is averaging 14.6 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. This should be a fun Star Matchup to watch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Del Norte (7-2) vs La Cueva (3-2) at 7:30pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is another 4A and 5A showdown between the Del Norte Knights and the La Cueva Bears. The Knights will be led by [player_tooltip player_id='1076702' first='Shane' last='Douma-Sanchez'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1208050' first='Estevan' last='Devargas'] who account for 42 of the teams 67 points per game this season. The Bears are the team with more depth, and have four players averaging double figures in points per game. [player_tooltip player_id='1176302' first='Cameron' last='Dyer'] (14.5), [player_tooltip player_id='1176299' first='Daniel' last='Lovato'] (13.0), [player_tooltip player_id='1076705' first='Cedarius' last='Yates'] (13.0), and [player_tooltip player_id='1076711' first='Isaiah' last='Denetclaw'] (12.0) this season. If each of these four get rolling, it might be too much for the Knights to handle. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Wednesday December 21st, 2022:</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>West Mesa (5-3) vs Manzano (4-4) at 7:00pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both West Mesa and Manzano have looked solid to start the season so far. Each of these teams are coming off a loss last time out, West Mesa lost 63-62 to Del Norte and Manzano lost 6-51 to Atrisco Heritage. The matchup of the night might be Manzano's [player_tooltip player_id='1360185' first='Nick' last='Dial'] vs West Mesa's [player_tooltip player_id='1124238' first='Elijah' last='Brody']. [player_tooltip player_id='1360185' first='Nick' last='Dial'] is the Monarch's leading scorer &amp; rebounder averaging 18.8 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game this season. He is currently tied for 15th in New Mexico in terms of points per game. [player_tooltip player_id='1360185' first='Nick' last='Dial'] will most likely be paired against [player_tooltip player_id='1124238' first='Elijah' last='Brody'] from West Mesa who has arguably had the biggest impact among transfers this season. [player_tooltip player_id='1124238' first='Elijah' last='Brody'] has a game winner on his belt and is one of the Mustangs leading scorers this season. Whoever outplays the other will help put their team in better position to win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Atrisco Heritage (9-1) vs Valley (5-4) at 7:30pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This Wednesday Night showdown between Atrisco Heritage and Valley is a 4A/5A matchup. This game has my interest because of the guard-play from both teams. Atrisco Heritage is led by [player_tooltip player_id='1076722' first='Chris' last='Parra'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1176301' first='Latavious' last='Morris'] who are one of the most dangerous 1-2 punches among back-courts in the state. They compliment each other well and can play off of each other. Valley's Guards are [player_tooltip player_id='1695659' first='Luciano' last='Mondragon'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1680000' first='Tyler' last='Kozlowski']. [player_tooltip player_id='1695659' first='Luciano' last='Mondragon'] is a traditional Point Guard like [player_tooltip player_id='1076722' first='Chris' last='Parra'] and is a pest defensively and creates havoc on that side of the floor. [player_tooltip player_id='1680000' first='Tyler' last='Kozlowski'] is one of the best shooters in New Mexico with his outside shooting and leads the Vikings in scoring averaging 15 points per game. Whichever team gets hot first could determine how this game will go. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" /> <!-- /wp:separator -->