2026-27 Team Preview: Centennial Hawks

2026-27 CENTENNIAL HAWKS PREVIEW   OVERVIEW   Until March arrived, the 2025-26 season was kind to the Centennial Hawks. They won the District 5A-3 regular season and tournament championships, and entered the Class 5A state tournament as the No. 7 seed. However, they were knocked out in the first round by Carlsbad, ending a promising season on a disappointing note.     “During the offseason, we knew what we had to fix,” Centennial head coach Vince Carrillo told Prep Hoops New Mexico. “We were blessed last season with the seniors we had to play an eight or nine man rotation. We had four bigs who could score. This season, we have to get better individually to make sure collectively we're better. It's about taking care of your business and doing your job.”   Centennial will be a smaller yet faster team in 2026-27. As a result, Carrillo plans to pick up the tempo and have the Hawks play faster.   “We're going to play more transition with less walking the ball up the court,” Carrillo said. “Hopefully, that will allow our guys to play more freely than we have the past two years. Tempo will hopefully be our bread and butter this year.         PLAYERS TO WATCH   [player_tooltip player_id='3573922' first='Anthony' last='Eres'] (Sr., 6-0, G): Centennial's top returning scorer. Averaged 9.3 points per game in 2025-26. Second on the Hawks in 3-pointers made last season with 40. “Anthony saw it this summer when opponents keyed on him knowing he could shoot the ball and finishes well,” Carrillo said. “He's also one of our better defenders. His role will change drastically. He's one of our stronger guys.”   [player_tooltip player_id='3574005' first='Ruiz' last='Laborin'] (Sr., 6-4, F): Quarterback on the Centennial football team. Averaged 8.0 points and 8.8 rebounds last season. Second highest returning scorer. “His job is going to change as well,” Carrillo said. “Last year he played on the perimeter and he could shoot the ball decently. He's our glue guy. He got big rebounds when we needed it. His role will be to keep everybody calm and bring some of that poise over from football. Obviously, he's been in some big situations with football.”   [player_tooltip player_id='2852631' first='Zayden' last='Arellano'] (Jr., 5-8, G): Started at point guard as a sophomore last season. His role last season was to handle the basketball, don't turn it over and contribute occasionally with his shooting. He averaged about three shot attempts per game. This season, he'll be shooting the ball more. “We're going to be running a lot more sets for him because he's a great shooter,” Carrillo said. “He's an excellent catch and shoot guy. We need him to score about 10 points per game, which he is capable of doing. If he doesn't, we're going to struggle a little bit.”                   PLAYERS TO KNOW   Aiden Zapata (Jr., 6-5, F): Appeared in four varsity games last season. But his work this summer show he's ready to become a major contributor. Scored 24 points in a summer league game against Cleveland. Brings good size and excellent shooting skills to the floor. “Aiden has one of the prettier strokes in the program,” Carrillo said. “He can space the floor if the bigs are playing off and can jump and dunk with either hand.”   Adriel Garza (Sr., 5-9, G): Role player off the bench last season as the backup point guard. Averaged 2.6 points per game. Excellent defender. Brings energy. “If there's a ball on the floor, you'd better watch out,” Carrillo said. “Garzia flies around. He makes things happen.”   Andrew Duran (Sr., 6-3, F): Appeared in 11 varsity games last season. Suffered a wrist injury in January and missed the second half of the 2025-26 season. Made 63 percent of his shots when he was healthy. “He's starting to come into his own,” Carrillo said. “He's pretty good when he wants to be.”         KEY NEWCOMERS   Alex Eres (Jr.): Younger brother of [player_tooltip player_id='3573922' first='Anthony' last='Eres']. Played mainly JV last season. Excellent player when he “figures things out.” Possibly could be a major contributor to the varsity.   Andrew Wendler (Jr.): Promoted from the varsity after a solid 2025-26 season with the JV team. Will likely have a different role with the varsity than he had with the JV team. Good catch-and-shoot scorer and willing to attack the hoop. Excellent defender.     FINAL THOUGHTS   Centennial opens the 2026-27 season on Nov. 23 with a road game at El Paso (TX) Coronado before traveling to Los Lunas the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Another road game at El Paso (TX) Eastlake before hosting Albuquerque High and Volcano Vista in early December.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/HawkBoysBBall/status/2056472449034674352 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-20-at-15-19-38-Instagram.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-20-at-15-19-38-Instagram.png?w=601" alt="" class="wp-image-3797861" /></a></figure>

2026-27 CENTENNIAL HAWKS PREVIEW