Peerman's Power Rankings: A D-lightful night for Lobo sports

This week’s Peerman’s Power Rankings is brought to you by the letter “D,” specifically Donovan Dent, Devon Dampier and dominating defenses.

But first, we’ll start with a little “V,” as in Vegas, baby, Vegas. The Lobos men’s basketball team returned to the city (or, metropolitan area) where the team went on an epic four-game heater to win the Mountain West tournament in March, and proved they still have a hot hand — this time trampling No. 22 UCLA in the Las Vegas Hoopfest on Friday night.

The Lobos won 72-64 but it wasn’t that close. UNM led wire to wire and outhustled, outmuscled and outplayed the Bruins, who clearly shouldn’t have been ranked at this point in the season.

One thing that is clear after a 2-0 start for the UNM men’s hoops program: Dent is that guy. The junior point guard is playing at an elite level, showcasing a poise and court awareness that transcend the box score. Meanwhile, senior center Nelly Junior Joseph has shown growth over the last year and is filling the stat sheet, averaging 22 points and 14 rebounds, while shooting 58 percent from the field, in wins over Nicholls State and UCLA, and was named Mountain West Player of the Week.

While Dent’s playmaking and Junior Joseph’s finishing at the rim are helping the Lobos put the ball in the basket, the entire team is making a difference at the other end of the court, evidenced on Friday by forcing 21 turnovers and limiting the Bruins to 36.4% shooting. That kind of D is going to lead to a lot of W’s.

UNM is receiving votes in the AP Top 25 and if the Lobos can surprise No. 22 St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, they should be receiving enough votes to sneak into the rankings.

At the same time New Mexico’s men’s basketball program was running UCLA off the court, the UNM football program was making a statement of its own against a SoCal team, rallying to beat San Diego State 21-16 on Friday at SnapDragon Stadium.

Dampier, the sophomore quarterback, completed 16 of 24 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown — the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter — and added 127 yards on the ground. But Dampier’s most notable stat was 0, as in no interceptions thrown (for the first time in three games).

Eli Sanders had a second consecutive monster game, doing much of his damage in the half-hour before the men’s basketball team even tipped off. Sanders racked up more than 120 yards and a couple touchdowns in the first quarter, giving the Lobos a comfortable 14-3 lead.

The Lobos’ three touchdowns were enough thanks to a stellar defensive effort. Beat reporter Sean Reider, in his postgame notebook, stated it perfectly: “For the first time this year, the Lobos won because of their defense. Not with it. Or as it’s sometimes looked, in spite of it.”

The last time the New Mexico football and men’s basketball teams won on the same day? University Sports Information Director Frank Mercogliano says that happened Dec. 17, 2016, when the basketball team demolished Arkansas-Pine Bluff 83-43 and the football team slipped by UT San Antonio, 23-20, to win the New Mexico Bowl.

Fun runs

To no one’s surprise, Eldorado freshman Gianna Rahmer repeated as 5A champion in this weekend’s cross country state meet. Rahmer, who won by more than a minute, has yet to lose a meet in New Mexico. All smiles and class, Rahmer said in a post-race interview that she was most proud of her Eagles teammates, who won the 5A girls title.

To no one’s surprise, the 5A boys race came down to Organ Mountain’s Corbin Coombs and Rio Rancho’s Charlie Vause. Corbin got the best of Charlie this time, winning by just 1.5 seconds. This rivalry — arguably the top individual battle in the state — will continue into the track season.

To Weldon Chabon’s surprise, it snowed — a lot — this week. The phenomenal freshman runner has accomplished much this year for the New Mexico Highlands cross country team, but one thing he had yet to do was run in snow. In fact, the Kenya native had never experienced snow in his life before Thursday, according to the Highlands sports information department.

Chabon added some gloves to his race-day attire and trudged through the snow-covered 10k course at the Division II South Central Regional Championships in Denver on Saturday. He finished in 31:32.7, the fastest freshman time, good enough for eighth-place overall, and qualified for the DII national championship Nov. 23 in Sacramento, California. A little white stuff on the ground? Snow problem!

Kickin’ it

Hope Christian, which had won three straight 4A championships entering the year, was in a rebuild.

Sure, juniors Mason Ricker and Hailey Sanchez and all-state-level goalkeeper senior Dylan Rees would anchor the Huskies, but seven of the other eight starters would be freshman or eighth-graders.

Didn’t matter.

The Huskies outscored their opponents 133-6 (133-6!) in going 23-0 and winning a fourth blue trophy. Coach Amy Fankam is building a dynasty at Hope.

The best goal of the state soccer playoffs came from New Mexico Military Institute’s Luis Rodriguez Valencia — the only goal of the match as No. 4 NMMI upset top-seeded Sandia Prep in a 1A-3A semifinal. Rodriguez Valencia, who was facing the sideline, about 20 meters out, lofted the ball high in the air in the general direction of the goal.

Was it a shot? A cross? Regardless, it landed in goal, behind the Sandia Prep goalkeeper, for a score no one saw coming. NMMI advanced and won its second straight title, beating Santa Fe Prep 1-0.

Honorable mention

How ‘bout them Aggies? NMSU’s women’s basketball, women’s soccer and volleyball teams all had noteworthy performances in the past week. On the basketball court, Molly Kaiser, a graduate student, scored a career-high 35 points and also had five rebounds and four steals as the Aggies beat Utah Tech 85-63 on Thursday. NMSU is 2-0 for the first time in four years, including a win at UC Irvine, which was in the NCAA Tournament last season. Kaiser was named Conference USA Player of the Week … NMSU volleyball won it’s final 10 matches at home (it’s last loss in the Pan American Center was to UNM on Sept. 19), and is now in third place in C-USA. Fifth-year libero Darian Markham made history in the Aggies’ four-set home victory over Jacksonville State on Saturday, becoming the first Aggie to surpass 2,000 career digs. … NMSU soccer fell 1-0 to Liberty in the C-USA tournament semifinals on Friday, but it’s worth noting the team (11-6-3) finished with at least 10 wins for the third consecutive season, a feat it’s only accomplished once before. Graduate forward Loma McNeese became the program’s all-time leading goal-scorer and assist leader during the season. … The prep football individual performance of the playoffs belongs to Rio Rancho quarterback J.J. Arellano, who had six touchdowns (three rushing, three passing), as the seventh-ranked Rams dispatched 10th-ranked Sandia, 47-17, in the first round. … The team performance goes to 4A’s 12th-seeded Chaparral, which went on the road to blank No. 5 Portales, 10-0. The Lobos started the year riding a 41-game losing streak and lost by 25 points to Portales the previous week.

Peerman’s Power Rankings capture the athletes, teams and story lines that have Journal sports editor Lucas Peerman’s attention. Have a suggestion, complaint or compliment? Email lpeerman@abqjournal.com or find me on X, @LucasPeerman.