2023 New Mexico Boys Basketball State Tournament Preview

The 2022-23 regular season in high school basketball has officially come to a wrap. This past weekend on Sunday February 26th, 2023, the State Tournament brackets and seedings were revealed for each of the five classifications. Each of the first round matchups have been set for this weekend along with the locations/times of each game. The sites throughout the tournament will start at the home sites of the higher seeds in the first round followed by the later rounds being played at UNM “The Pit”, Bernalillo High School and Rio Rancho Events Center.

5A:

Kenyon Aguino Kenyon Aguino 6'7" | PF Volcano Vista | 2025 State NM and Hudson Brown Hudson Brown 5'9" | PG Volcano Vista | 2025 State NM led the defending 5A State Champion Volcano Vista Hawks back to the #1 overall seed in 5A with a 25-1 record in the regular season. The road to win their second straight championship will be a challenging one as they have a number of challengers in the field. The #2 seeded Sandia Matadors were led by their incredible starting five; Andrew Hill Andrew Hill 6'2" | CG Sandia | 2023 State NM , Dalen Moyer Dalen Moyer 6'0" | CG Sandia | 2023 State NM , Ely Lovato Ely Lovato 6'2" | CG Sandia | 2023 State NM , Lamarion Coleman Lamarion Coleman 6'2" | SF Sandia | 2023 State NM and Thomas Adams Thomas Adams 6'2" | SF Sandia | 2025 State NM who matchup the best with the Volcano Vista Hawks. Other teams that can pose a threat are the West Mesa Mustangs, the Los Lunas Tigers, the Cleveland Storm, Eldorado Eagles and the Atrisco Heritage Jaguars. The Mustangs are led by Elijah Brody Elijah Brody 6'2" | SF West Mesa | 2024 State NM ‘s versatility and Sonny Ortiz Sonny Ortiz 6'5" | SF West Mesa | 2023 State NM ‘s lights out shooting. The Tigers are led by arguably the best player in the state in Jalin Holland Jalin Holland 6'5" | SG Los Lunas | 2025 State NM . The Storm are led by their back-court duo of Daniel Steverson Daniel Steverson 6'2" | SG Cleveland | 2024 State NM and Remy Albrecht Remy Albrecht 5'6" | PG Cleveland | 2026 State NM . Lastly, the Eldorado Eagles size with Mike Knaub Mike Knaub 6'6" | PF Eldorado | 2024 State NM and Josh Jackson Josh Jackson 6'3" | PF Eldorado | 2024 State NM fit perfectly with Caileb Parham Caileb Parham 6'2" | SG Eldorado | 2023 State NM ‘s athletic slashing ability.

4A:

Kellan Gehres Kellan Gehres 6'0" | CG Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM and Joe Jack Joe Jack 6'3" | SF Albuquerque Academy | 2024 State NM led Albuquerque Academy to the #1 seed heading into the 2023 State Tournament. They averaged 19 and 18 points per game as a duo. The defending 4A State Champion Highland Hornets; secured the #2 seed led by Alexis Dominguez Alexis Dominguez 5'10" | PG Highlands | 2023 State NM who was rewarded the District-Player of the Year. Those are the two favorites for the 4A State Tournament. Other serious threats for the 4A State Championship is the St. Pius X Sartans, Hope Christian Huskies, Artesia Bulldogs and the Del Norte Knights. St. Pius is led by their dominant big man Brian Kalb Brian Kalb 6'8" | PF St Pius | 2023 State NM who could be the most unstoppable interior force in this tournament. The Hope Christian Huskies will be led by their star Jett Wyckoff Jett Wyckoff 6'3" | SF Hope Christian | 2023 State NM , who is a near double-double machine. Nick Sanchez Nick Sanchez 5'9" | PG Artesia | 2023 State NM from Artesia has plenty of playoff experience looking to make one last run at a State Championship. The best player in the 4A Class and possibly the state is Shane Douma-Sanchez Shane Douma-Sanchez 6'1" | PG Del Norte | 2023 State NM from Del Norte High School, and with one State Championship and two State Championship Game appearances under his belt, its never a good idea to bet against the senior superstar.

3A:

The St. Michael’s Horsemen were this year’s #1 seed in the 3A Boys State Tournament. They went 23-4 in the regular season this year after losing in the 3A State Championship game last year to Robertson. They have went on their revenger tour led by Adam Montoya Adam Montoya 6'2" | PG St Michaels | 2023 State NM who has averaged 22 PPG and 12 RPG. Robertson the defending 3A Champions, secured the #3 seed and are led by their stars Bodie Schlinger Bodie Schlinger 6'3" | C Robertson | 2023 State NM and Jesse Gonzales Jesse Gonzales 5'5" | CG Robertson | 2025 State NM . Its a good chance we can see a rematch of those two teams in the state championship game this year but Navajo Prep has a good chance of playing spoiler. They have three players averaging at least 13 PPG, Jude Thomas, Orion King and Xavier Nez Xavier Nez 6'1" | CG Navajo Prep | 2025 State NM .

2A:

Last season Pecos reached the 2A State Championship game and came up short vs Menaul. They returned nine seniors from their roster from last season and went 24-3 this year to lock up the #1 seed. They come into this tournament winning ten straight games as the hottest team in this tournament. Academy For Technology and the Classics received the #2 seed and went 23-6 in the regular season. It is very likely these two teams see each other in the 2A Boys State Championship Game next weekend.

1A:

The Magdalena Steers have won back to back state championships in 2021 and 2022 in the 1A Class. They went a perfect 28-0 in the regular season, 10-0 in district play and won their district tournament. They have won 74 of their previous 75 games over the past three seasons. D ‘Shaun Vinyard averaged 18.6 PPG this season as the team’s leading scorer. They are without a doubt the team to beat in this years state tournament as they try and make history going for a three-peat.