District Tournament Week: Thursday’s Top 5 Games

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've reached Day 4 of District Tournament Week, meaning many of the teams that finished in the bottom half of their respective districts have been eliminated. In many districts, the best teams are now squaring off. Here are 5 Games To Watch On Thur. night:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rio Rancho at Cleveland (5A-1)</strong>: These fierce crosstown rivals meet for the third time this season, and it might not be the last since they will both likely get top three seeds in the 5A state tournament. The last time they met (one week ago) produced one of the best games of the year as Cleveland won in double OT. The amount of next level talent on the floor will be impressive with CG <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1326930' first='Remy' last='Albrecht']</strong> and SG <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2085714' first='Ajay' last='Vigil']</strong> from Cleveland and &nbsp;tall forwards <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2694572' first='Cayden' last='Richardson']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2706557' first='Noah' last='Lovato']</strong> of Rio Rancho.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Las Cruces at Organ Mountain (5A-3)</strong>: Along with Centennial, the Bulldawgs and Knights were locked in a season-long battle for the district crown. Even though Organ Mountain won seven fewer regular season games than las Cruces, the Knights won, 49-45, when the two teams last met on Feb. 13 to claim second place in the district standings. The last two meetings between these teams this season were decided by a total of seven points, Expect this one to be just as close. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Valencia at Belen (4A-5)</strong>: Rivalry renewed. There is no love lost between these two fierce Valencia County rivals. The Jaguars went to St. Pius X Tuesday night and posted the upset (as far as seeding is concerned) with a balanced scoring attack led by [player_tooltip player_id='2283972' first='Carin' last='Bustillos'] (13 pts), [player_tooltip player_id='3102200' first='Liam' last='Brogdon'] (13) and [player_tooltip player_id='1717301' first='Jared' last='Porter'] (12). Winner gets red hot Highland in the district tourney title game. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sandia Prep at East Mountain (3A-5)</strong>: East Mountain (24-2) is No. 4 in the latest MaxPreps ranking and No. 6 in the final Coaches poll in Class 3A. The Timberwolves have the fewest losses in Class 3A. Both games against Sandia Prep this season have been hard-fought, defensive battles. [player_tooltip player_id='2216957' first='Vicente' last='Ortiz'] is an elite shooter for East Mountain. The winner gets Bosque in the District 3A-5 title game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Robertson at Santa Fe Indian (3A-2)</strong>: The last time these two teams met, SFIS won convincingly with an impressive defensive effort, holding the Cardinals to 51 points. The Braves limited Robertson's standout G [player_tooltip player_id='2216708' first='Michael' last='Marr'] to 18 points. Marr has scored 49 points in the two games since. Winner gets St. Michael's in the district tournament title game. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Best of the Rest</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Zuni at Tohatchi (3A-1)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Springer at Roy/Mosquero (1A-5)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hozho Academy at Dulce (2A-1)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alamogordo at Centennial (5A-3)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grady at Logan (1A-6)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hondo Valley at Mountainair (1A-3)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Semifinal at the Castle 🏰 | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuiltForMarch?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BuiltForMarch</a> <br><br>🆚 #12 Organ Mountain<br>⏰ 6:00 PM MST<br>📍 Organ Mountain High School<br>🔗🎟️📺 <a href="https://t.co/wAavH77Oxp">https://t.co/wAavH77Oxp</a><br><br>📸 @dsvisuallss <br>📸 @richchavezphoto <br>🎨 <a href="https://twitter.com/shotbymvtt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@shotbymvtt</a> <a href="https://t.co/FX5XDgQIsB">pic.twitter.com/FX5XDgQIsB</a></p>&mdash; Cruces Boys' Basketball (@CrucesBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrucesBB/status/2027041650812580123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Are you ready for another exciting matchup tonight? Come out and support your Cleveland Storm at home against our crosstown rivals as they compete in the semi final game in the district tournament!<br>Go Storm!⚡️⚡️<a href="https://twitter.com/coachzcole?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coachzcole</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsprimo2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sportsprimo2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesDYodice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JamesDYodice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepHoops_NM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepHoops_NM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nmpreps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nmpreps</a> <a href="https://t.co/pQqlRne2HF">pic.twitter.com/pQqlRne2HF</a></p>&mdash; Cleveland Storm Basketball⚡️ (@cleveland_bball) <a href="https://twitter.com/cleveland_bball/status/2027029662870995144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html -->