All State Tournament Team: Class 4A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Highland won its third Class 4A championship in the last five years on Saturday night at The Pit with a victory over Artesia. Here is our Class 4A All-Tourney Team:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Most Outstanding Player</strong>: <strong>Nico Sanchez, Highland</strong>. If there was an award for Breakthrough Player of the Year, Sanchez would be the obvious choice. He led the Hornets in scoring all season long and continued his outstanding play in the state tournament. He scored 27 points with three 3-pointers, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 6 assists and went 6-for-6 from the FT line in the quarterfinal win over Portales. In the semifinals, Sanchez scored 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting and had 9 steals in the Hornets' 71-51 win over Taos. Saturday, he scored 16 points, made 7-of-8 free throws and handed out 3 assists in the championship game. He appeared in all 31 games for Highland (27-4), which closed out the campaign with an impressive 20-game winning streak, and led the Hornets in scoring (20 ppg), assists and steals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717250' first='Hunter' last='Aime'], Albuquerque Academy</strong>: The 6-foot-10 Aime scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Chargers in their quarterfinals loss to Hope Christian. The setback ended a somewhat disappointing season for Albuquerque Academy. The Chargers finished third in District 4A-6 (4-4) and 18-12 overall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Landon Cochran, Hope Christian</strong>: Helped lead Hope Christian to the semifinals of the 4A state tournament by scoring 16 points with 6 steals and 3 assists in the Huskies' convincing win over Albuquerque Academy in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he scored 12 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in a loss to Artesia. Just a sophomore, Cochran will be one of Hope Christian's leaders in 2026-27. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2832949' first='Pierce' last='Culpepper'], Portales</strong>: The 6-foot-7 Culpepper scored a combined 40 points in the Rams' pair of state tournament games. He had 20 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals in Portales' first-round win over Belen. In the quarterfinals, he scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds with 5 assists in the Rams' loss to Highland. Recorded a double-double in both of Portales' state tournament games. He'll spend the summer playing for ABC Spotlight. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2300007' first='Malakhai' last='Ely'], Taos</strong>: The Tigers were a pleasant surprise in Class 4A this season, advancing as far as the semifinals in the state tournament in their quest to reach the state championship game for the first time since 1998. Ely was Taos' leader and he was spectacular in the semifinals as he scored 26 points and grabbed 18 rebounds (12 offensively) against Highland. Ely was the main reason Taos had 21 second chance points in the semifinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717247' first='Brayden' last='Giron'], Hope Christian</strong>: The 6-foot-6 Giron was one of Class 4A's best players this season and led the Huskies to the No. 3 seed for the state tournament. The Huskies trounced district rival Albuquerque Academy in the quarterfinals as Giron scored 13 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. In the semifinals, Giron scored 15 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the loss to Artesia. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2146038' first='Clay' last='Kincaid'], Artesia</strong>: Artesia's tallest player at 6-foot-8, Kincaid was the Bulldogs standout player in their games at The Pit. In the semifinals, he scored 24 points on an impressive 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double in the win over Hope Christian. In the final, he led Artesia with 18 points and 9 rebounds, falling one rebound short of a second consecutive double-double. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2693635' first='Juan' last='Limas'], Highland</strong>: Limas has been one of Highland's top players for the past two years. In 2024-25, he was the Hornets' second leading scorer behind Jesus Licon and helped lead them to the 4A title game against Artesia. This season, Limas was Highland's second leading scorer behind Nico Sanchez (See Above). He scored 19 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in the quarterfinal win over Portales. He scored 22 points and grabbed 4 rebounds against Taos in the semifinals before scoring 14 points with 7 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists in the championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717253' first='Francois' last='Satchivi'], Del Norte</strong>: Despite experiencing foul trouble that limited him to 23 minutes of action, Satchivi led the Knights with 19 points and 9 rebounds in their quarterfinals loss to Taos at the Pit. He scored 16 points in Del Norte's first-round win over Valencia. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717327' first='Braylon' last='Vega'], Artesia</strong>: Vega has been an outstanding shooter through his career, which began at Hobbs before transferring to Artesia for his junior and senior seasons. In Saturday's championship game, he scored 13 points and made four steals. Against Hope Christian in the semifinals, he scored 14 points with 3 assists and 3 steals. Vegas was scorching hot in the quarterfinals against Gallup, burying NINE 3-pointers and scoring a total of 40 points in a lopsided win over the Bengals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">9 3's in the Quarterfinals!! My teammates were finding me. 9/11 from behind the arc. <a href="https://twitter.com/_NMAA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_NMAA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RussellGurule?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RussellGurule</a> <a href="https://t.co/60WzoKpcSD">pic.twitter.com/60WzoKpcSD</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1717327' first='Braylon' last='Vega'] (@BraylonVega2026) <a href="https://twitter.com/BraylonVega2026/status/2032606729826087272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Excited to welcome class of 2027 6'7 Wing [player_tooltip player_id='2832949' first='Pierce' last='Culpepper'] to the family! <a href="https://twitter.com/AbcSpotlightNM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AbcSpotlightNM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RL_Hoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RL_Hoops</a> <a href="https://t.co/K2Kb9CxHGY">pic.twitter.com/K2Kb9CxHGY</a></p>&mdash; KJ Ford (@KJ_Ford4) <a href="https://twitter.com/KJ_Ford4/status/2032981011643216293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2026</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>                       </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->