Stretch Run: Five Teams Flying Under The Radar

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we begin February, the start of the 2026 state basketball tournament is just six weeks away. Here are five teams – one from each classification – that are flying under the radar:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 5A: Centennial</strong>. The Hawks were 5-6 on New Year's Day. Since then, they've won NINE games in a row, including Friday night's road win at local rival Organ Mountain, and stand at 14-6 overall, 4-0 in District 5A-3. Centennial is led by the trio of 6-foot-5 senior <strong>Kouliebchen Tou</strong> (19.9 ppg, 11.9 rpg), 6-foot-3 senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717219' first='Tracen' last='Huntsman']</strong> (11.9 ppg) and senior PG <strong>Anthony Eres</strong> (10.3 ppg). A showdown with crosstown rival Las Cruces looms on Tuesday. Centennial is currently ranked No. 11 in the latest 5A MaxPreps poll.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 4A: Taos</strong>. Just like the Tigers' football team in the fall, Taos has sneaked up on people. The Tigers are an impressive 17-4 overall, 3-0 in District 4A-2 following Saturday's convincing 76-47 road win at Los Alamos that extended Taos' win streak to six games. Senior F <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2300007' first='Malakhai' last='Ely']</strong> and senior G <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2693660' first='Roberto' last='Trujillo']</strong> are the leaders. Taos could be a dangerous team in March. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 3A: Tularosa</strong>. The Wildcats suffered just their third loss of the season Thursday when they fell to Cobre, 78-65, at home. The setback snapped their six-game winning streak. But Tularosa bounced back Saturday with a solid home win over Socorro, 66-44, to improve to 17-3 overall. Sophomore <strong>River Kasero</strong> has been one of the Wildcats' top scorers all season long and he was again Saturday when he scored a team-high 22 points against Socorro. Tularosa faces a key road test Tuesday at Dexter. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 2A: Mesa Vista</strong>. The Trojan turned heads in early December when they beat 5A Hobbs, 4A Espanola Valley and 3A Bosque on consecutive days at a round robin tournament in Espanola. Mesa Vista has kept on winning since then, improving to 17-3 overall, 4-0 in District 2A-5 by virtue of Saturday's 63-54 home win over Penasco. Mesa Vista reached the Class 2A state championship game last March and could do it again in six weeks. The Trojans are definitely in ‘win now‘ mode with eight seniors on the 2025-26 roster.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 1A: Fort Sumner/House</strong>: Logan (18-1) is the defending 1A champion and is ranked No. 1 in 1A by MaxPreps. Ask most analysts and they'll tell you the Longhorns are heavy favorite to lift the blue trophy again. But Fort Sumner/House isn't far behind. FSH is 17-2 overall heading into Saturday night's showdown with Logan. Junior PG <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2833891' first='Jordan' last='Holland']</strong> scored 21 points, handed out 12 assists and had 5 steals in a recent game against Santa Rosa. FSH will need him to play well on Saturday against Logan.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big win at OMHS &quot;The Castle&quot; last night for the Hawks! One game at a time! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SiSePuede?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SiSePuede</a> <a href="https://t.co/DOqRberCIK">pic.twitter.com/DOqRberCIK</a></p>&mdash; Centennial Hawks Boys Basketball (@HawkBoysBBall) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawkBoysBBall/status/2017599830558728666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">17 points against Silver <a href="https://t.co/J2al2SaFwe">pic.twitter.com/J2al2SaFwe</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1717219' first='Tracen' last='Huntsman'] (@TracenDH30) <a href="https://twitter.com/TracenDH30/status/2010199925372637418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>       </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->