Pit houses myriad state basketball tournament memories

The New Mexico State High School Basketball Tournament, which commenced with first-round play Friday and Saturday, has grown exponentially since the first official tourney was conducted in 1921. That year the Albuquerque High boys beat Alamogordo 22-20 in the final at the Albuquerque Armory.

Some schools that played in that event no longer exist. Dawson is a ghost town; Albuquerque Indian School shut its doors in 1981.

The other six that took part were Fort Sumner, Clovis, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Menaul and Pleasant Hill. There would have been more schools in the inaugural mix but most were unable to make the trek. Among the reasons was the expense of traveling to Albuquerque by train.

It was at that time, just before the tourney started, that the New Mexico High School Athletic Association (NMHSAA) was born. Ten coaches, along with a committee that included H.P. Marcus, sporting editor of the Albuquerque Morning Journal, gathered to help form the organization that has managed prep sports ever since. In 1953 the association’s name was altered to the New Mexico Activities Association.

Fast-forwarding

Now, 104 years later, 160 schools take part in the tourney covering five classifications. The 2025 version of New Mexico’s March Madness already has seen 40 girls games played and 40 on the boys’ side at the gyms of the higher seeded teams. Starting with the quarterfinal round Tuesday, all tournament games will be played in the Albuquerque metro area.

What has helped the tournament soar in popularity is that since 1967 most late-round postseason showdowns have been played in the University of New Mexico’s University Arena, or the Pit, a venue recognized nationally as one of the best and loudest in the country.

One player who grew to love the iconic arena was ex-Albuquerque High star Kenny Thomas, who went on to play with UNM and then 11 years in the NBA. He first got to compete in the Pit during Albuquerque High’s title run in 1995. The energy he felt in the building left a lasting impression.

“I had never seen anything like it with 18,000 people in the stands,” he said. “It was amazing and one of the main reasons for me wanting to stay in Albuquerque for college.”

There haven’t officially been any tournament crowds quite that large, but it must sometimes seem that way to players.

The Hulsman years

Former Albuquerque High boys coach Jim Hulsman, a 1949 AHS grad, remembers how he was “overwhelmed” at his first tournament when he went down the Pit ramp to the court and felt the electric atmosphere. His players no doubt felt it, too.

“How many times does a kid who’s 17 years old get to play in front of 17,000 people?” Hulsman said.

Actually it’s happened just once in New Mexico history, when in 1981 Hulsman’s Bulldogs faced Ralph Tasker’s undefeated Hobbs Eagles in the finals and fell 83-75. A Pit crowd of 17,381 attended.

Hulsman, who played for the Bulldogs in the late 1940s (“I was lucky just to make the team”), was head coach of the squad from 1968 through 2002. His teams won seven titles.

It was in 1971 that Hulsman won his first, beating Hobbs 81-80 in the finale. It came as somewhat of a surprise considering a year earlier the Bulldogs were 123-87 losers to Hobbs, the most lopsided romp in championship game history.

“Oooh, that one hurt,” Hulsman said when reminded of the score.

Yet Hulsman won’t put that 1971 title-game victory on a pedestal in his memory bank. “Every win was important,” he said of his 660 career triumphs.

The COVID years

And, with regard to crowds at tourney games, Hulsman also could have said there aren’t a lot of 17-year-olds who can claim they played a game in the Pit in front of hardly anyone.

Back in the early COVID-19 days of 2020 and ’21, there were times only 100 people were allowed in the building, including players and coaches.

Said Kirtland Central girls coach Devon Manning of the games taking place in such an echo chamber: “When players would bounce the ball it sounded like a rocket going off.”

Tourney’s debut in Pit

The tournament’s debut there was memorable, at least for fans from Roswell who cheered on the Goddard Rockets. Goddard, which finished fourth in 2AA, beat the first-place Highland Hornets of 1AA, 57-55.

Later that day there was arguably the biggest upset in tournament history when Hobbs, which finished first in District 2AA, saw its 53-game winning streak snapped by Manzano, 84-80, in the quarterfinals. The Monarchs were fourth in 1AA.

To this day, that Hobbs winning streak under Tasker stands as the longest in boys’ state history. The longest such stretch for a girls team was Eldorado’s from 1985-88 when the Eagles won 77 straight, which included Class 4A titles in 1986 and ’87. Eldorado was led by coach Don Flanagan, who later guided the UNM women’s team from 1995-2011.

Tasker, who died in 1999, stands as the winningest prep basketball coach in New Mexico annals with 1,117 triumphs. He led teams to 12 state titles. But he’s not first on that list.

That honor belongs to current Hope Christian coach Jim Murphy.

Domination at Hope

Murphy has been the Huskies’ head man since 1983 and has led his squads to 16 championships, including a six-year run from 2013-18, with the first two in Class AAA and next four in AAAA.

Murphy said his first crown, which came in 1985, was extra special. Especially when he saw the Sunday edition of the newspaper the next day.

“It was a pretty big deal to see our game on the front page of the Journal,” he said regarding a large photo from the team’s 59-55 title-game victory over Jal. Hope finished 27-1.

Seventeen years later the Huskies capped a perfect season (29-0) with a 61-52 triumph over Santa Rosa. That squad was one of 19 boys championship teams in recorded history that went undefeated.

Out-of-nowhere champs

Many teams have qualified for state tournaments despite having a losing record. There were 20 such schools this season in the boys and girls brackets, including St. Michael’s girls at 10-18.

In 2012, the Lovington Wildcat girls were in much the same situation, seeded 12th in Class AAA with a 9-16 record. But they then went on a historic run against seeds 1, 2, 3 and 5 to win the championship. Those Wildcats (13-16) remain the only team in state basketball history to win a crown with a sub-.500 record.

Lovington’s Chief Bridgforth is the school’s current girls coach but was athletic director during that title run. He said the surge had to do with the return of Mystica Perez, an all-state performer who missed more than half the season recovering from a knee injury.

Her two free throws with less than a second remaining in the tournament final against second-seeded Santa Fe Indian School gave the Wildcats a wild 49-48 win.

Then, back in 1983, Bridgforth was an assistant on the boys’ team when that group also went on an improbable title run.

Lovington had only an 11-14 record entering the tournament but eventually took the crown with a 92-81 victory over Tucumcari to finish at .500. That Wildcats team is the only one in boys history to win a championship without having a winning record.

Cliff knows about going undefeated

The Cliff Cowboys are the one of two boys schools the past 40 years to have undefeated title-winning seasons. The other being Magdalena in 2015 and 2021.

Cliff’s perfect seasons were in 1994 and 2008 under coach Pete Shock, who guided the program for 38 years until his retirement after winning his 10th state championship in 2013, 49-44 over Hagerman.

Whenever his teams played in the tourney, Shock said there was no shortage of Cliff fans who made the roughly five-hour journey to Albuquerque to cheer. “Just about everyone in the area came,” he marveled.

And those fans were treated to some memorable finals through the decades. None more exciting than what occurred in 1994 when Cliff’s Eric Kern crashed to the ground making an off-balance running layup as time expired to give the Cowboys a 69-67 win over Grady. (Check it out on YouTube).

This girls rivalry tough to beat

Over the past four years the girls of Kirtland Central and Gallup have taken turns winning Class 4A state crowns, with Manning’s Kirtland teams winning in 2022 and ‘24, and coach Todd McBroom’s Gallup squads in 2021 and ‘23.

It would be hard to find two more rabid fan bases, too. And since Kirtland is seeded first and Gallup second this year, a mega-noisy finale could be in store.

“Our fans travel well,” said Manning, who won three state titles as a Kirtland player from 2001-03. “For a game Friday, for sure thousands would be coming.”

The teams last tangled March 1 for the District 1-4A title at Kirtland with Gallup’s Bengals beating the Broncos 73-69 before a full house. McBroom said it took him a few days to get his voice back after that one.

And because of that fan support throughout the season and the fact they are regulars in the tournament, McBroom said playing in the Pit isn’t so “overwhelming.”

“It will be like playing in just another gym,” McBroom said. “At the end of the day you can’t let that affect you. Just have focus.”

A big shout-out goes to Marty Saiz, NM High School basketball historian, for providing historical data. Also, high-fives to NMAA’s J.P. Murrieta and Tyler Dunkel for their assistance.