Albuquerque, New Mexico/Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal
The District 2-5A boys basketball race didn’t begin Saturday with a three-way tie for first place, but it ended with one.
This was largely due to the Eldorado Eagles, who beat West Mesa 58-54 on Saturday afternoon.
Michael Knaub had 19 points, and Josiah Mitchell added 18 for Eldorado (13-7 overall), which joined Sandia (16-4) and West Mesa (15-5) atop the 2-5A standings.
Each team is 3-1 in league play.
The only reason Saturday didn’t end with a four-way logjam for first place is because Farmington, playing at home, beat La Cueva 78-62 in the afternoon. The Bears (12-8) are 2-2 and a game behind the three co-leaders.
District 5-5A has seen Santa Fe leading the league early, but right on the Demons’ heels is Los Lunas.
The Tigers (16-4, 3-1) bashed visiting Rio Grande 63-30 on Saturday afternoon, and they are one game behind Santa Fe (13-7, 4-0), which defeated rival Capital (12-7, 1-3) by a 71-55 score Saturday night.
Sophomore guard Jalin Holland poured in 31 points to lead Los Lunas against the Ravens (10-8, 2-2). Point guard Ezra Guest added a dozen points.
Los Lunas got out quickly, leading the Ravens by 10 points in the first quarter, and didn’t look back.
“Today we didn’t get Rio Grande’s best shot,” Tigers coach Travis Julian said. “They’re a better team than that.”
Rio Grande, despite the loss, was in third place in 5-5A by itself as of Saturday afternoon.
GIRLS: Sandia had a difficult week, losing home games to both Volcano Vista and La Cueva. But the Matadors routed visiting Piedra Vista 69-15 on Saturday afternoon in District 2-5A.
The Matadors’ outstanding sophomore trio — Sydney Benally, Hope Giddings and Audri Wright — combined to score 61 of their team’s points. Benally had 30 points, Giddings 17 and Wright 14.
Sandia (14-5, 2-2 in 2-5A) had suffered a 64-57 loss on Wednesday to La Cueva.
“The La Cueva game was disappointing, but we had our two best practices of the year on Thursday and Friday,” Matadors coach Lee Kettig said.
Sandia has a home game next weekend against Farmington (19-1, 4-0), which leads District 2-5A.
The Scorpions were in Albuquerque on Saturday and downed La Cueva 53-41 in a first-place battle. Guard Eva Love returned to the La Cueva lineup on Saturday after missing the previous month with an ankle injury. Love’s minutes were limited, and she scored six points in about 12 minutes of action, La Cueva coach Marisa Cogan said.
Jordyn Dyer led the Bears with 13 points.
Senior guard Kamalani Anitielu had 13 points to lead Farmington. Kjani Anitielu added 12 points for the Scorpions, who led La Cueva by 20 points in a big first half.
