2024-25 Team Preview: St. Pius X Sartans

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 TEAM PREVIEW: ST. PIUS X</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OVERVIEW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Pius X lost three of its first four games last season but by late January was running on all cylinders, winning nine of 11 games. In March, they advanced to the semifinals of the Class 4A playoffs before losing a close, hard-fought game to eventual champion Highland. The Sartans finished 19-12 (7-1 in district).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We graduated some seniors that were good players,” St. Pius X head coach Ryan Myers told Prep Hoops New Mexico. “Our seniors played a lot of minutes. Our biggest focus this offense on both sides of the ball has been attention to detail. That was one of things that hurt us late last season in close games.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2684214' first='Mason' last='Montoya'] (6-3, F, Sr.)</strong>: Montoya has been a varsity player since his sophomore season. Montoya, described as a ‘stretch four, is solid in the post. Very athletic. He can play inside or outside. Very versatile. “He's comfortable on the wing or in the post,” Myers said. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Carson McConnell (5-11, G, Sr.)</strong>: Another player who has been on varsity since he was a sophomore. Two older brothers also played for St. Pius. He will be the Sartans point guard and will sometimes move to shooting guard. “I've known Carson for a long time,” Myers said. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717294' first='Kenneth' last='Zamora'] (Jr.)</strong>: Saw minutes with the varsity as a freshman before joining the team on a full-time basis in 2023-24. He's expected to have a larger role this season. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NAMES TO KNOW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Josh Darling</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>James Lockhart</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>KEY NEWCOMERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Isaiah Carpenter (So.): </strong>The 6-foot-5 Carpenter is the starting quarterback for the football team. He suffered a knee injury late last season and missed his entire freshman hoops season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hershul Olloway (So.): </strong>Star running back on the football team. He played JV last season as a freshman and should make the jump to varsity in 2024-25.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Curtis Flakes III (So.): </strong>Wide receiver on the football team. Also played JV last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cayl Cox-Liggins (So.)</strong>: Star WR on the football team also played on the freshman and JV hoop teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Xander Faux (Fr.)</strong>: Started on the freshman team as an 8^th-grader in 2023-24. <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FINAL THOUGHTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Pius X is growing rapidly and Myers expects 55 to 85 players to try out in October for the school's three hoop teams: varsity, JV and freshman. Last season, St. Pius X tweaked their system to, as Myers described it, be more “free flowing” due to a lack of taller players. Two years ago, the Sartans had the luxury of starting a pair of players that were 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-6. As a result, they were more methodical on offense and worked the ball inside.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“When we lost that height, I joked that we're now back to St. Pius height,” Myers said. “So, last season we played a little faster and were a little less structured than we have in the past. We'll continue to do the same this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Defensively, we'll predominantly play man-to-man with some zones and traps mixed in when we need to. I'm a big proponent that if you're going to win a state championship, you have to do it playing man-to-man. You have to be able to guard the ball.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last season's senior-dominated roster means there will be plenty of new faces for St. Pius X fans – and opponents - to become familiar with.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Depth will be one of our strengths this season,” Myers said. “Right now, we don't know what it will look like. I do know we have a lot of quality guys trying out. And we'll have a lot of fall sport athletes trying out, including about 15 to 20 guys from the football team.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Pius X will compete in District 4A-5 with Belen, Grants, Highland and Valencia.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>            </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->