District Tourneys: 6 Teams That Have Impressed So Far

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're now in the fourth day of district tournaments throughout the state. For some teams, the season is over. For others, they're still alive and battling for a spot in their respective state tournaments. Here are 6 teams that have impressed so far:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aztec</strong>: If there's a team deserving of the label ‘Cinderella,' it's Aztec. The Tigers were the No. 5 seed for the District 4A-1 tournament – and are currently ranked No. 98 in the state by MaxPreps - before knocking off Kirtland Central in the first round (65-51) and Bloomfield in the semifinals (66-59) to earn a spot opposite regular season champions Gallup in the title game. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eldorado</strong>: Even though the Eagles are below .500 overall, they opened eyes Wednesday night when they routed Santa Fe, 70-47, on the Demons' home floor, setting up a clash with rival La Cueva Friday night. In the first round, they trounced Capital, 66-38, so they beat the two Santa-Fe based Class 5A teams by a combined 51 points. The Eagles are getting hot at the right time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Farmington</strong>: The Scorpions finished third in District 5A-1 behind Volcano Vista and Cleveland. In the district tournament, they've beaten Rio Rancho (68-61) at home and Cibola (53-48) on the road in OT. [player_tooltip player_id='1914028' first='Landon' last='Begay'] had 13 points and [player_tooltip player_id='1717217' first='Sataurus' last='Griego'] to lead a balanced Farmington attack. The Scorpions face Cleveland Thursday night (6 p.m. tip) at the Thunderdome in Rio Rancho in the semifinals. Winner will play top-seeded Volcano Vista in the district tournament championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Highland</strong>: The Hornets, the defending 4A champions, played the first two months of the regular season without their best player, [player_tooltip player_id='1687821' first='Jesus' last='Licon'], the state's top 3-point sharpshooter last season. Highland lost four of six games in late January and early February, but have played good basketball since then. They knocked off Valencia (80-59) in the 1^st round and Belen (84-56) in the semifinals of the district tournament by wide margins and will face St. Pius X in the district tourney championship game Friday night. Licon scored 36 points and drained 8 3-pointers in Wednesday night's win over Belen, so he looks ready for the state tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Santa Fe Indian</strong>: The Braves' run though the District 3A-2 playoffs has been all about the Callado brothers. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='2818740' first='Kenyen' last='Callado'] scored 31 points in a 67-42 victory over Academy for Technology and The Classics (ATATC) in the first round before younger brother Tavian, a freshman, scored 28 points in a convincing win over West Las Vegas Wednesday night. SFIS will now play their third game in three nights on Thursday when they travel to Robertson to face the Cardinals. The winner gets St. Michael's in the district tournament championship game. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Springer</strong>: The Red Devils finished fourth in District 1A-5 but have advanced to the final three in the district tournament thanks to a 63-51 upset of No. 3 seed Maxwell on Wednesday night. Springer now plays their third game in three nights on Thursday when they travel to Cimarron. The winner gets Roy/Mosquero in the district tourney championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🏀 GAME DAY 🏀 🦂 SEMIFINAL GAME 🆚 CLEVELAND STORM ⚡️ <br><br>Scorpions will travel to Cleveland today to play the Storm in the Semifinal Game of the District 1-5A Tournament! 🏆<br><br>🗓️ Today, Thursday, February 27th, 2025 <br>📍 Cleveland High School 🏀<br>⌚️ TIPOFF @ 6:00pm <br><br>GO SCORPS!!🦂 <a href="https://t.co/mneaQiQxVT">pic.twitter.com/mneaQiQxVT</a></p>&mdash; fhsscorpionsbbb (@fhsscorpionsbbb) <a href="https://twitter.com/fhsscorpionsbbb/status/1895150932327047546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/KOB4?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KOB4</a> for having us on <a href="https://twitter.com/NMGameDay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NMGameDay</a> last night. Let's Go Hornets!! <a href="https://t.co/XiOhVb8ujp">pic.twitter.com/XiOhVb8ujp</a></p>&mdash; 🏀🐝HHS Boys Basketball🐝🏀 (@HHSHornetHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/HHSHornetHoops/status/1893456354867818684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>     </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->