Peerman's Power Rankings: 10 best things in New Mexico sports this week (Dec. 3)

Welcome to Peerman's Power Rankings (PPR), the 10 athletes, teams and story lines that have Journal sports editor Lucas Peerman's attention. Look for a new power rankings list every Sunday. (However, PPR is taking a break Dec. 10 and will return Dec. 17).

Have a suggestion, complaint or compliment? Email lpeerman@abqjournal.com or contact me on X @LucasPeerman.

10. Blaze Berlowitz

PPR didn't know of Blaze Berlowitz's existence until after halftime of the Conference USA title game, when New Mexico State put Berlowitz — its third-string quarterback — in the game due to a banged-up Diego Pavia (starter) and Eli Stowers (backup). The true freshman from Cushing, Okla., saw his first-ever action in a college football game when his team was down a couple touchdowns on the road to a top 20 team in Liberty. Berlowitz looked poised and confident in completing 10 of 19 passes for 134 yards and had one touchdown and one interception. And truth be told, he was two could've-easily-been-Aggie-completions away from three touchdowns and no interceptions. The future is bright, Aggie fans.

9. Bella Hines

Eldorado junior Bella Hines — the best girls player in the state — was at No. 10 in the PPR last week. In her first game this season, Hines led the Golden Eagles to a 74-27 win over Manzano on Thursday. Hines scored 41. By herself, she outscored the opposing team by 13. That kind of performance moves you up a spot in the PPR. And check out this nifty move.

8. UNM women's basketball

The Lobos played their most complete game of the season Saturday, defeating rival NMSU 67-52. UNM improved to 6-2 thanks to a balanced attack — Charlotte Kohl had a double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds); Paula Reus added 15 points and eight boards; Nyah Wilson added 13 points; and Aniyah Augmon chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals. Plus, the team held the Aggies' leading scorer Molly Kaiser to a season-low four points (with one of those baskets coming in the final minute). What a performance. Bravo, Lobos!

7. Volcano Vista boys basketball

The reigning boys basketball state champs played like the best team in the state on Thursday in a game against La Cueva, a squad that has enough talent to challenge for the blue trophy come March. The Hawks won 59-44, proving Kenyon Aguino and the boys in black are once again the team to beat this year. Adding freshman David Lunn III, who already holds a Division I offer, makes Volcano Vista even scarier.

6. Sandia girls basketball

Speaking of young hoopers with D-I offers, let's discuss eighth-grader Kaiyah Benally, who plays for the Sandia girls team. Kaiyah joins her older sister Sydney Benally (the second-leading scorer in 5A last season at 25 a game, and a player who holds multiple DI offers herself), Hope Giddings and Audri Wright to form a formidable Matadors squad. How formidable? Sandia started the season with a 71-15 win over Pojoaque Valley (Kaiyah led the Matadors with 14 points) on Tuesday and two days later dropped Volcano Vista 82-53 (Sydney took high scoring honors with 23). Volcano Vista was the state runner-up last year, and Sandia beat them by 29! Here are some highlights from the game.

5. Jaelen House and Donovan Dent

Lobos guards Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Donovan Dent are all really good players and together make up possibly the greatest backcourt in UNM history. Case in point: House's first half against rival New Mexico State at the Pit on Saturday. The 6-0 senior guard hit five threes, scoring 26 points as the Lobos jumped out to a 55-32 lead at the half. House sat much of the second half, but the Lobos continued to dominate, winning 106-62, the third-most lopsided score in the century-old rivalry. And though House was electric, it was Dent's 12-point, 10-assist, 0-turnover game that got Geoff Grammer's attention. The Lobos beat reporter writes about Dent in his Emptying the Notebook column. When Mashburn returns from injury and all three of these players are healthy, watch out Mountain West!

4. Cortavious Seals

NMSU-UNM, Aggies-Lobos, return of the rivalry, yadda-yadda-yadda. It didn't come close to matching the drama of Western New Mexico at New Mexico Highlands. OK, so there were like a dozen people inside the NMHU gym to watch this Thanksgiving eve battle between two of three best D-II programs in the Land of Enchantment, but the handful of fans in attendance were treated to a "kiss from a rose" from WNMU guard Cortavious Seals.

Seals scored 30 points and pulled down five boards in the Mustangs' 80-79 victory. He went 12-for-17 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, including hitting the game-winning 30-footer at the buzzer (0.4 seconds on the clock when the Mustangs inbounded it). Seals became the first WNMU men's basketball player to be named Lone Star Conference offensive player of the week.

3. Gianna Rahmer

This Albuquerque eighth-grader turned in a top 10 performance at the Nike Cross Nationals this weekend. This is the national championships for high school distance runners. Gianna Rahmer, who finished sixth, continues to impress. If someone said PPR was disrespecting Rahmer by ranking her at No. 3, we wouldn't argue. The top three was a coin-flip this week. PPR has shared the clip below, after Rahmer won the state title, but we're sharing it again. Heck, we may share it in every PPR the rest of the year, just for kicks.

2. NMSU football

It's been six-plus decades since the New Mexico State football team won at least 10 games. This year's Aggies finished the regular season 10-4 after a hard-fought loss at Liberty in the CUSA title game on Friday. The final score was 49-35 but anyone who watched that game knows it was a lot closer than two touchdowns (and might have been so if not for quarterback Diego Pavia's injury). It's likely the Aggies will (finally!) play in the New Mexico Bowl in a couple weeks, so we'll get one more chance to see Jerry Kill and the fightin' ponchos. What happens to coach Kill and the program next season? Don't know, but PPR is glad to share this photo of one reason why Jerry will forever have crimson in his veins.

1. The Pit

New Mexico's premier sporting destination was alive on Saturday night. A more-than-sellout crowd of 15,435 was in attendance to see the Lobos put on an absolute show, shellacking an overmatched Aggie team. It was the most attended UNM men's basketball game in the Pit since 2009. There's no better venue in the state and PPR is glad to see it return to glory. Great job, Lobo fans!

Honorable mention

• Eldorado-Manzano boys basketball: Best high-school game of the week. Take a look at this box:

ELDORADO 95, MANZANO 94 (2OT)

ELDORADO (2-0): Tysean Austin 15, Malachi Green 26, Vince James 11, Emiliano Morrison 8, Pete Fuentes 15, Johnny Salas 16, Zeke Espalin 4. Totals: 35 FG, 17-32 FT.

MANZANO (0-1): Shane Erni 6, Kareen Otwar 13, Donovan Rhodes 28, Estevan Gonzales 10, Joaquin Ramos 14, Avant Anderson 9, Jeremy Reynolds 10. Totals: 30 FG, 27-37 FT.

Manzano 20 17 19 21 7 10 — 94

Eldorado 17 10 29 21 7 11 — 95

3-pointers: M 7 (Otwar, Rhodes 4, Anderson, Reynolds), E 8 (Green 3, James, Fuentes 2, Austin, Freeman). Team fouls: M 28, E 29. Fouled out: M 3 (Erni, Otwar, Ramos), E 3 (Green, Morrison, Espalin).

• Devon Dampier and Jacory Croskey-Merritt: Arguably the two most important returning players on the Lobos football team, both QB Dampier and RB Croskey-Merritt have said they'll wait to see who UNM hires as its next coach before deciding whether to enter the transfer portal. Patience is a virtue and this portends well for the future of Lobo football. As stated in last week's PPR, the coach's first call after they're hired should be to Croskey-Merritt, and they should rope Dampier into that conversation as well.

• Fast Break: The Journal has a new weekly podcast from prep sports editor James Yodice. Fast Break is the place for all your high school basketball news. Here's the first episode:

• Nov. 26
• Nov. 19

End of the bench

Previous power rankings

College Football Playoff: PPR couldn't find a New Mexico-related end of the bench this week, so let's put the four-team College Football Playoff there. Leaving a deserving 13-0 Florida State, and for that matter a 12-1 Georgia behemoth, out of contention for a national title? Good riddance. PPR will be glad for the 12-team playoff next year when we can argue how in the world those East Coast know-it-alls somehow believe Jerry Kill's undefeated Aggies are not among the best dozen teams in the country.