Top teams clinch playoff spots on penultimate night of basketball regular season

The penultimate night of the 2025-26 prep basketball season was a mixed bag as it pertains to closure.

Yes, Saturday does officially end New Mexico’s regular season, but there won’t be any regular season games of consequence in the metro area.

The last truly meaningful games were contested on Friday.

The quick recap:

The Del Norte boys played themselves into a playoff, coming from 12 points down in the fourth quarter to knock off first-place Hope Christian 54-49 in District 6-4A and necessitating a playoff between the Knights and Huskies on Monday.

The Sandia and La Cueva boys are officially headed for a playoff showdown in District 2-5A, but only because the Matadors overcame Santa Fe in overtime on Friday.

The Valencia and Highland girls started the night tied for first in 5-4A, but did not end the night tied; the Hornets (16-10, 6-2) were upset by St. Pius and Valencia (20-6, 7-1) won the regular season by a single game due to their win over Belen.

The first of the metro-area playoff games actually is Saturday, with Menaul’s boys and Oak Grove meeting at 1 p.m. at Legacy Academy for the top seed in next week’s District 2-2A tournament.

The Panthers just a few days ago fired head coach Santiago Maestas — Panthers athletic director Gary Boatman declined to comment on the reasons why — and assistant Anelisia Pena is going to run the team for the remainder of the season, Boatman said.

At Hope Christian, fourth-ranked Del Norte (17-9, 7-1 in 6-4A) trailed third-ranked Hope (19-7, 7-1) 43-31 after three quarters. But the Knights, down 45-35, put together a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter, highlighted by senior guard Francois Satchivi, who nailed consecutive 3-pointers to put Del Norte in front 46-45 with 4:27 to go. The Knights, once they led, did not relinquish the lead, as Satchivi later buried four free throws down the stretch to help secure the comeback victory. He led the Knights with 24 points, half of them in the final eight minutes.

“We just kept going. Honestly, me and my guys, I don’t think we even saw the deficit,” said Satchivi. “We just kept playing.”

Said Del Norte coach Jeron McIntosh: “He’s been the dude all year long, and he stepped up and made some big shots for us.”

The Knights and Huskies are going to meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Bernalillo in the playoff game. It will be their fifth meeting of the season. None of the first four games have been decided by more than five points.

Sandia (19-7, 9-1) and La Cueva (20-6, 9-1) are slated to meet at Del Norte at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the top seed in the 2-5A tournament. The Bears and Matadors won on the other’s floor during district play. Sandia coach Danny Brown earned his 300th career victory on Friday as the Matadors beat the Demons in OT.

The District 6-4A girls race has a playoff, between Hope (22-4, 7-1) and Albuquerque Academy (21-5, 7-1), who also traded road wins in league play. Those two play at 5 p.m. Monday at Bernalillo, just ahead of the boys playoff contest.

Farmington (1-5A), Sandia (2-5A) and Albuquerque High (5-5A) are regular-season girls district champions. The Scorpions avoided a playoff game with Rio Rancho when the Rams were upset last week by Volcano Vista.

On the boys side, Cleveland and Volcano Vista are meeting in a 1-5A playoff, at 6 p.m. Monday at Cibola.

Albuquerque High clinched the 5-5A crown earlier in the week. Highland is the 5-4A regular-season champion. Bosque School, despite firing head coach Clifton Davidson on Wednesday of this week, locked up District 5-3A because it swept second-place East Mountain.

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at @JamesDYodice.