Hawks Impressive in 5A Debut

West Mesa Boys Basketball Run Part of a Successful Year for West Side Programs

West Mesa’s boys basketball team had its best season of the relatively new century. Volcano Vista was a spring sports power. One local basketball team made yet another surprising appearance in a state championship game.

Those were some of the top headlines from the first six months of 2011, which yielded a number of team and individual state championships for high schools in the West Side Journal area.

Volcano Vista’s first school year as a 5A program was memorable.

The Hawks’ softball team went undefeated against the rest of 5A, and, led by junior pitcher Kelsey Stevens — who made a verbal commitment to Stanford — capped their season with a 7-4 victory over Carlsbad in the state championship game at Lobo Field. It was Volcano Vista’s second state title of 2010-11, to go with girls soccer.

The baseball team nearly won state, losing 11-10 to La Cueva in a thrilling title game at Isotopes Park. The Hawks at one point trailed 9-1, but tied the game with five runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Volcano Vista put four players on 5A’s all-state first team: second baseman Andre Vigil, first baseman T.J. Trujillo, outfielder Dano Gassoway and pitcher Victor Sanchez.

While La Cueva swept most of the spring sports, there were two exceptions. One was the Volcano Vista softball team. The other was the Valley girls tennis team.

The Vikings beat Carlsbad 5-3 in the championship match, the program’s first-ever state title and the first blue trophy for the school — not counting cheerleading or dance — since the Valley boys basketball team in 1996.

Vikings’ sophomore Chris Humphreys, a transfer from Sandia Prep, won the 5A state singles match, 7-6, 6-3 over Eldorado’s Sean Baklini.

Bosque School’s Rand Briggs took the 1A-3A singles title, in three sets over Robertson’s Emilio Gomez.

♦ In basketball, the West Mesa boys were among the surprise teams in New Mexico.

The Mustangs enjoyed a rare 20-win regular season and its first district title in 13 years. However, the loss of two athletes late in the season put a bit of a damper on things, as West Mesa, a No. 5 seed, was ousted in the first round of the state tournament by No. 12 Cleveland.

The deepest playoff basketball run was authored by Cibola’s girls. As a No. 9 seed, the Cougars upset Valley in the first round, then stunned No. 1 Eldorado in the quarterfinals and beat No. 4 La Cueva in the semifinals.

Mayfield beat Cibola 51-42 in the 5A championship game.

It was the final prep event for Texas Tech-bound guard Amber Battle, who would later become the only area athlete to earn first-team all-state honors for the 2010-11 basketball season.

For the boys, a young St. Pius squad reached the 4A semifinals where the Sartans lost to eventual champion Española Valley. In the quarterfinals, St. Pius needed four overtimes to get past Santa Teresa, 79-77, in one of the longest postseason basketball games in the state’s history.

♦ At state wrestling, the West Side had another dominant showing.

No fewer than five of the 14 weight divisions in Class 5A went to athletes from Cibola, Volcano Vista and Rio Grande.

Senior Nick Pino (125) and sophomore Thomas Barela (145) won state for the Cougars, with junior Eric Montoya (119) and senior Erik Crum (heavyweight) taking first place for the Hawks. Rio Grande senior Steven Trujillo was the 152-pound state champion.

Trujillo, Crum and Montoya were later named to the state’s “Dream Team,” which is wrestling’s equivalent of an all-state team.

One wrestler who failed to win a state title eventually surpassed them all.

West Mesa High School sophomore DeShun Brown was a state runner-up in February, but he more than atoned for that devastating loss.

In April, Brown captured the 112-pound Sophomores division at the National High School Coaches Association Championships in Virginia Beach, Va.

Brown is believed to be just the fourth New Mexican to win a national title at this event, following Mike Lovato (West Mesa, 1996) and a pair of Rio Rancho wrestlers, Louis Trujillo and Max Ortega.

♦ For the first time, the state spirit competition was considered a sport. And the Valley High dance team captured a state title for the sixth consecutive year.

♦ In track and field, Chris Kline of West Mesa (400 meters) and Kendall McVey of Cibola (800) both earned victories at the 5A state meet. Bosque School’s Jacqueline Katzman was the state champ in the girls’ Class 2A 800-meter run.

♦ A pair of football players signed their national letters of intent to play Division I football. West Mesa quarterback Matt Jaramillo signed with New Mexico State, and Volcano Vista lineman Anthony Kennedy signed with UNM after originally verbally committing to the Aggies. Kennedy wasn’t through changing addresses, however. (More on that Saturday.)

Other highlights …

Other highlights from the first six months:

♦ St. Pius pitcher Kevin Piersol nearly threw a perfect game against Atrisco Heritage Academy, settling for a no-hitter (with one defensive error) in a 9-0 win over the Jaguars on April 2. Later, Piersol would be named to 4A’s all-state first team.

♦ Stevens and third baseman Shaylin Brown were named to 5A’s all-state first team in softball, as was Cibola outfielder Emma Adams.

♦ At April’s Marilyn Sepulveda Classic, an all-star track-and-field event with the best athletes in the state, wins were posted by Cibola’s Steven Lewis in the 110-meter high hurdles and Cibola’s Kendall McVey in the 800.

♦ Jack Feely, a St. Pius junior, won two events at February’s state swimming championships, the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard free. Teammate Gabe Pleil-Pino took the 100 free. Moriah Morrell of Volcano Vista was a state champion for the girls in the 100 backstroke, and Valley’s Dorian Holler was the boys’ winner in the 100 breaststroke.

♦ St. Pius goalkeeper Elliot Farmer decided to forego his senior season with the Sartans after being invited to play with the Real Salt Lake Academy soccer team in Arizona. His training was to occur while competing in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League, which is considered one of the country’s top youth club programs.

♦ Valley senior guard Mario Flores was chosen as the Class 5A boys metro player of the year by the area’s head basketball coaches. He averaged about 22 points a game for the Vikings.

♦ Flores, West Mesa’s Keon Harris and Volcano Vista’s Mario Molina were named to the North-South All-Star game; Cibola’s Battle, West Mesa’s Raquel Alonzo and Valley’s Dominique Lozano were selected for the girls.

♦ Cibola boys soccer coach Shane Huff resigned to become a women’s college coach in California; Huff was replaced by assistant Cameron Clarke.

♦ The Volcano Vista baseball team overcame a 10-0 deficit to stun Eldorado 15-14 in a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2 on April 9. Andre Vigil’s walk-off grand slam won it for the top-ranked Hawks.

♦ Golfers Kelcey Tate of Cibola (5A) and Memoree LeCompte of St. Pius (4A) earned all-state honors by placing third in their respective girls state tournaments. The Bosque School girls finished second in Class 1A-3A.

♦ Rio Grande finished third at the 5A state wrestling tournament.

♦ The Volcano Vista dance team finished second at state to Valley.

♦ Among the notable signings that occurred during the first half of the year were the St. Pius soccer tandem of Nick Miele (UNM) and Nathanael Pacheco (Gonzaga), and Bosque School soccer player Lilias Gordon who signed with Wake Forest.

♦ The Bosque School boys tennis team was the state runner-up to New Mexico Military Institute.

♦ St. Pius’ boys water polo team won a state championship on the last weekend of April.

♦ LA Boxing, a club that offers boxing, kickboxing and MMA training, opened on the West Side.

♦ Volcano Vista wrestling coach Jimmy Melek resigned; he led the Hawks to the Class 4A state title in 2010; the Hawks won last season’s Albuquerque Metro Championships. Former West Mesa standout Mikey Lovato replaced Melek.

♦ Area schools that qualified for state softball besides Volcano Vista were Cibola, Valley, West Mesa, St. Pius and Atrisco Heritage Academy. In baseball, in addition to Volcano Vista, other playoff teams were Rio Grande, Valley, St. Pius and Atrisco Heritage.