The Top Matchups To Look Forward To In Week Three

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the first two weeks of the Boys High School Basketball regular season complete, we look forward to the top matchups in Week Three taking place from Tuesday December 6th to Saturday December 10th. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Tuesday December 6th, 2022:</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Los Lunas vs Atrisco Heritage at 7:00pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Los Lunas Tigers will host the Atrisco Heritage Academy Jaguars Tuesday Night. Los Lunas comes in undefeated at 5-0 and Atrisco Heritage comes in at 3-1. This matchup will be centered around two of the top prospects in the 2025 Class: [player_tooltip player_id='1176298' first='Jalin' last='Holland'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1176301' first='Latavious' last='Morris']. Both have quickly become two of the top players around the state with their elite scoring. An important factor in this game will be if [player_tooltip player_id='1076722' first='Chris' last='Parra'] and <strong>Marquise Renfro</strong> from Atrisco Heritage will both be back in the lineup after missing the teams last game vs Eldorado. If both players are unavailable again, the biggest X-Factors in this game will be [player_tooltip player_id='1076708' first='Tony' last='Pacheco'], [player_tooltip player_id='1678035' first='Antonio' last='Ortiz'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1076721' first='Ezra' last='Guest']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pojoaque Valley vs St. Michael's at 7:00pm </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The St. Michael's Horsemen are undefeated at 4-0 and won the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament Championship. They were led by [player_tooltip player_id='1301617' first='Adam' last='Montoya'] who was the Tournament MVP. The Pojoaque Valley Elks are 2-1 this season and led by Star Shooting Guard [player_tooltip player_id='1547736' first='Derek' last='Sanchez'] who's averaging 27.5 points per game. This game will come down to the Star Shooting Guard's [player_tooltip player_id='1301617' first='Adam' last='Montoya'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1547736' first='Derek' last='Sanchez']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wednesday December 7th, 2022:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Highland vs Sandia at 7:30pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two of the top basketball programs in New Mexico faceoff this Wednesday Night at Highland High School. The defending 4A Champion Hornets come in undefeated at 4-0 while the Matadors come in at 2-1. The Hornets leading scorer is [player_tooltip player_id='1485758' first='Alexis' last='Dominguez'] averaging 21.3 points per game and the Matadors leading scorer is [player_tooltip player_id='1360191' first='Andrew' last='Hill'] who also averaged 21.3 points per game this season. Both teams play really fast and up tempo. Their is solid three-point shooting on both sides of the floor which includes; [player_tooltip player_id='1076710' first='Dalen' last='Moyer'], Raul Standford, Jesus Licon and Brandon Medina. Also expect Forwards [player_tooltip player_id='1678051' first='Fernando' last='Hernandez'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1552945' first='Lamarion' last='Coleman'] to bring some energy with their hustle plays. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Volcano Vista vs La Cueva at 7:30pm</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is a rematch of last year's 5A Boys State Semifinals playoff matchup from last season. Both teams lost a lot of their core from last year, but they have both started the new season off strong. Volcano Vista is 4-0 and La Cueva is 2-0. The most intriguing matchup in my opinion will be the two starting Point Guard's on both squads; [player_tooltip player_id='1176305' first='Hudson' last='Brown'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1208049' first='Josiah' last='Guliford']. They're very similar in their styles of play which includes leadership, physical defense and great playmaking. Each of the two Point Guard's are the engines for their teams and what makes their squads go. They both are more than capable of lighting up the scoreboard but will make other winning plays besides scoring. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1176305' first='Hudson' last='Brown']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1208049' first='Josiah' last='Guliford']</strong> are old-school traditional Points Guard's every team would love to have in their basketball program. It will be difficult for either player to get the best of the other but will be a fun matchup to watch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Thursday December 8th, 2022:</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St.Pius vs Valley at 7:00pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two of 4A's best team's faceoff in an early season showdown this Thursday Night. The Sartans will be led by Star big man [player_tooltip player_id='1445839' first='Brian' last='Kalb'] who has led St. Pius to an early 3-2 record so far this season. The Valley Vikings come in at 3-1 and our led by their Guard's [player_tooltip player_id='1680001' first='Julian' last='Chavez'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1680000' first='Tyler' last='Kozlowski']. [player_tooltip player_id='1680001' first='Julian' last='Chavez'] is averaging 16.8 points per game and [player_tooltip player_id='1680000' first='Tyler' last='Kozlowski'] is averaging 13.8 points per game. If that back-court gets going early, it will be a long night for St. Pius. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Friday December 9th, 2022:</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Las Cruces vs Del Norte at 12:00pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both the Las Cruces Bulldawgs and Del Norte Knights lost in their respective State Championship Games last season. They have both started this season off the right foot as the Knights are undefeated at 4-0 whereas the Bulldawgs are 2-1. Del Norte's [player_tooltip player_id='1076702' first='Shane' last='Douma-Sanchez'] leads the state in scoring averaging 31.8 points per game and assists averaging 8 assists per game. Teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1208050' first='Estevan' last='Devargas'] is the team's second leading scorer averaging over 12 points per game. They will be going against the Bulldawgs back-court of [player_tooltip player_id='1679992' first='Suge' last='Valles'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1276347' first='David' last='Cruz'] who are two really good defensive guards that will be the biggest factors for Las Cruces this Friday Night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>La Cueva vs Highland at 7:30pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The La Cueva Bears will have their home opener this Friday Night vs the 4A defending State Champion, Highland Hornets. This will be a fun matchup between two of the state's best Point Guards; [player_tooltip player_id='1208049' first='Josiah' last='Guliford'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1485758' first='Alexis' last='Dominguez']. The biggest X-Factors for the Bears will be [player_tooltip player_id='1076705' first='Cedarius' last='Yates'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1076711' first='Isaiah' last='Denetclaw']. For the Hornets, it will be Raul Standford and [player_tooltip player_id='1678051' first='Fernando' last='Hernandez']. This has the opportunity to be one of the best games of the week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Saturday December 10th, 2022:</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Valley vs Artesia at 2:30pm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Artesia Bulldogs look to get back on the road vs the Valley Vikings. They have started the season surprisingly slow at 0-3 but will be led by their Star [player_tooltip player_id='1208047' first='Nick' last='Sanchez'] in hopes of turning their season around. He is more than capable of taking this game over by himself. The Valley Vikings have caught many around the community by surprise with their hot start at 3-1. They have a lot of young talent to build around for the next few years around players like [player_tooltip player_id='1680001' first='Julian' last='Chavez'], [player_tooltip player_id='1680000' first='Tyler' last='Kozlowski'] and Luciano Mondragon. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-wide"} --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/> <!-- /wp:separator -->