Boys, girls metro fields loaded as 2026 event begins Tuesday around Albuquerque

The next 16-team tournament on the prep basketball schedule, in March, will be more important, but the Albuquerque Metro Championships serve as a crown jewel of the regular season.

The 2026 metros begin Tuesday at gyms across the city, and it is, as always, the most grueling test of any tournament, including state, with a four-games-in-five-days format for the 32 teams in the two fields.

The finals are Saturday at Del Norte, with the girls at 4 p.m., followed by the boys at 6 p.m.

Here's a preview.

Boys

Six of the top eight ranked teams in the Class 5A coaches’ poll — No. 1 Las Cruces and No. 7 Mayfield are the exceptions — are in the field.

The power is really concentrated in the bottom quarter of the bracket, where the teams ranked 2, 4 and 5 — La Cueva, Rio Rancho and Hobbs — are joined together. La Cueva and Hobbs, in fact, square off in the first round on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. at West Mesa. The fourth-ranked Rams, coming off a victory over Volcano Vista in their own holiday tournament last week, face the Mustangs at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Rio Rancho is the last undefeated team in 5A boys basketball.

And if all that weren’t enough, No. 3 Volcano Vista, the 2025 metro champ, also resides in that bottom half of the draw. The Hawks face Rio Grande on Tuesday. Two other solid teams, Albuquerque High and Del Norte, round out that incredibly brutal bottom half of the bracket.

By contrast, the upper half has a more open-ended air to it. Cleveland, fresh off an upset over Las Cruces on Friday night, will be one of the teams to watch; the Storm open with Hope Christian.

Eldorado-Highland, Sandia-Valley and Atrisco Heritage-Cibola are the other first-round matchups on the top half of the bracket.

Second-round (quarterfinal) games are Wednesday night at Highland, Cibola, Rio Grande at West Mesa, all at 7 p.m.

Albuquerque High is the site for Friday’s 5:15/7 p.m. semifinals.

Girls

The girls have plenty of firepower, as well, with Hobbs and Kirtland Central joining metro powers Rio Rancho, Albuquerque High, La Cueva and Sandia.

The Rams are 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class 5A. They will open on Tuesday against Rio Grande. The Rams could face No. 6 Sandia in the quarters on Wednesday; the Matadors are paired with 4A’s fifth-ranked Hope Christian in the first round.

No. 2-ranked AHS is also in the bottom half of the draw, and could run into Rio Rancho in the semifinals on Friday. One of the two Bulldogs losses came to the Rams in Rio Rancho’s tournament last month, although standout freshman guard Abby Pavia didn’t play that day for AHS as she was out of the state.

Hobbs, La Cueva, Volcano Vista and Kirtland Central are in the top half of the bracket.

Hobbs is the defending metro champion, having routed Kirtland in the final last year. The Eagles and La Cueva will be favored to meet in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

The Broncos and Volcano could also meet on Wednesday if they win on Tuesday in the first round.

Second-round games are Wednesday at Volcano Vista, La Cueva, Sandia and AHS.

Del Norte is hosting the semis at 5:15 and 7 p.m. Friday.