5A Varsity State Playoffs Cleveland HS VS Santa Fe HS

<p>April 4, 2021, kicked off a night of exciting high school playoff basketball. I watched the #1 Cleveland Storm vs the #8 Santa Fe Demons. This game was an absolute dog fight from the beginning. Here is a list of my standouts from that game.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1076623" first="Nathan" last="Hasberry"] 6’4″ F, 2021, Cleveland High School: [player_tooltip player_id="1076623" first="Nathan" last="Hasberry"] was a huge contributor to the win for Cleveland High School. He has been an absolute terror against any team he plays. Teams can’t figure this kid out. He has a definite shot at winning New Mexico Gatorade player of the year. He is an excellent rebounder and gets a ton of put backs under the rim. He is relentless on the ball and doesn’t give up on any plays. He does a ton of damage underneath and is extremely hard to challenge with his long frame and long arms. It’s no wonder Cleveland keeps winning games against very tough competitors. With players like Hasberry, Gonzales and Watson Cleveland High School is very tough. As the playoffs continue, look for those three to do some damage. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1076622" first="Evan" last="Gonzales"] 6’0″ G, 2021, Cleveland High School: Sniper alert with [player_tooltip player_id="1076622" first="Evan" last="Gonzales"]! He was very dominant and accurate from three point range tonight. Santa Fe struggled to hold down Evan from shooting multiple three pointers. They would play great defense and Evan still managed to slip away and do what he does best. He is a great short corner 3 point shooter and he proved that tonight by knocking down 3 of them in crucial moments to give Cleveland High School the edge. He also showed us how well he could get to the middle and draw the foul. He got to the line many times tonight and was able to knock down some big free throws. He played very good defense defending some key players for the Santa Fe Demons. Look for that same intensity in his next games to come.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1076627" first="Cruz" last="Martinez"] 5’10" PG, 2021, Santa Fe High School: Cruz " The General" Martinez had a great game. He is a natural point guard who is very comfortable with the ball in his hands. He played at high speeds tonight against a tough Cleveland Storm defense. He was able to control the tempo for the Santa Fe Demons and didn’t hesitate to attack Cleveland when he needed to. Cleveland would throw multiple double teams at The General and he was able to break them every time. He hit some clutch three pointers and played intense defense that caused multiple turnovers keeping Santa Fe in the game. Cruz has been talking with some great college programs and I look forward to see where he takes his guard expertise in college level play. </p> <p><a class="pn-player-link" href="https://prephoops.com/player/nathan-hasberry/"><span class="info-box"><span class="player-img"><img class=" ls-is-cached lazyloaded" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/12/Nate-150x150.jpg" data-src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/12/Nate-150x150.jpg" /></span></span></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1076628" first="Cody" last="Garcia"] 6’0″ G, 2021, Santa Fe High School : There were definitely two Snipers on the court tonight. Cleveland had theirs and the Santa Demons had Cody. He started the game lights out. At first it looked as if the Santa Fe Demons were going to run Cleveland High School out of their own building. Cody was on fire knocking down back to back three’s and hitting some contested mid range jumpers in the first half. He came out the second half with Santa Fe down 7 points getting a key steal, a three pointer and multiple layups sending Santa Fe on a 4-0 run. He played great defense and got some very big blocks. It will be interesting to see where this senior takes his talents to. </p> <p>Paul "PJ" Lovato 6’4" F, 2022, Santa Fe High School: PJ brought the energy that Santa Fe needed right from the jump. He was an absolute relentless shot blocking machine. He had 5 blocks against the Cleveland Storm offense and had a ton of rebounds. He showed how well his footwork was underneath getting some big time up and under buckets and put backs. He was a key part of Coach Cole’s offense setting high screen and roles and passing the ball with efficiency to an open [player_tooltip player_id="1076628" first="Cody" last="Garcia"] or [player_tooltip player_id="1076627" first="Cruz" last="Martinez"]. </p> <p>Cleveland High school advances to the semis for their second game against a tough Atrisco Heritage High School team. Look out for another dog fight with a multitude of standout players. </p>