Welcome to Week 2 of state basketball

Yes, Pit West will be pulsating this coming week. But, with due respect to Sin City, the OG is where you’ll find the best action.

To that end, allow me to roll out the red carpet for our 61 visitors.

Week 2 of the high school state basketball tournament, the most anticipated five days on the prep sports calendar, is upon us, and starting Tuesday, the remaining 80 teams, spread out among the Pit, the Rio Rancho Events Center, and Bernalillo High School, will continue the pursuit for a state championship.

The 61 visiting teams join the 19 from the Albuquerque metro area for the final 70 games of the season. The first 60 of those are elimination games, starting Tuesday morning and continuing through Friday afternoon.

Starting at 3 p.m. Friday, it’s nothing but finals, ending with the Class 5A boys at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Let’s do a little by-the-numbers as a primer.

Number of schools that have both a boys and girls team remaining: 19

Number of co-ops remaining: 5

Number of girls games won in the first round by the higher seed: 31

Number of boys games won in the first round by the higher seed: 36

Number of double-digit seeds remaining: 8

Number of No. 9 seeds left: 5

Number of lowest remaining seed: 13

Number of games at the Pit this week: 38

Number of minutes, minus overtimes, to be played at all three venues: 2,240

Number of undefeated teams remaining: 1

Number of brackets (out of 10) that so far have gone chalk: 2

Number of officials working state games this week: 60

Number (approximately) of miles, one way, being covered by the 61 traveling teams coming to the metro area: 11,000

Fewest number of miles being traveled by a single school outside the metro area: 49 (Laguna-Acoma)

Most number of miles being traveled by a single school: 345 (Jal)

Number of cities/towns besides Albuquerque that have multiple teams remaining: 13

Number of Division I signees remaining from Albuquerque who have scored more than 2,000 career points: 2

Number of defending state champions remaining: 8

Number of fans that will be in the Pit on Friday night if Gallup and Kirtland Central’s girls meet in the Class 4A final: 14,000 (at least)

Number of 6-foot-6 sophomores remaining who already own the state’s all-time shot-blocking record: 1

Number of boys teams from Albuquerque’s West Side that are attempting to win a fourth consecutive state championship: 1

That last item is where the most riveting narrative is found, as Volcano Vista chases a fourth straight blue trophy. In the largest boys division, Hobbs (1999-2002) is the last to accomplish this.

The deck is certainly stacked against the other seven quarterfinalists, since the Hawks beat all seven of them and went a combined 11-0 in those games. Plus, Volcano’s second half of the season has been noticeably more dominant than the first. Before metros, the Hawks won 12 games by an average of 24.1 points. After metros, they won 14 games by an average of 37.5 points.

Volcano has two of the five best players in the state, including sophomore David Lunn, who went over 1,000 career points Saturday night, and University of Montana-bound senior forward Kenyon Aguino, who is already over 2,000 points and is 5A’s best individual player.

This team is experienced, driven, talented, diverse, and they know how to close.

Although Hobbs is seeded 2 and Sandia 3, my thought is, the Matadors are probably best equipped to upset Volcano Vista at the end of the week. The two regular-season games were decided by nine and four points. First, however, Sandia would have to get past Albuquerque High in the quarterfinals and possibly Hobbs in the semis.

Sandia and AHS met in the quarters a year ago, and from this exact same quarter of the draw, only AHS was an 11 seed and Sandia a 14 versus the 3-6 matchup we have this week. The Matadors, who lost to the Bulldogs last March, are super eager for this repeat pairing. Hobbs’ path includes a quarterfinal meeting with Cleveland, a team the Eagles lost to in January.

The No. 2-ranked narrative on my list is the 4A girls bracket, where we seem destined, as we have for months, for a Kirtland Central-Gallup title game on Friday. Neither of them has lost a single game to any 4A team except the other. Friday night could be extra special.

Among the 80 teams left, only one, the Class 1A Roy/Mosquero girls, is unbeaten. The Blue are seeking to become the first school from the smallest girls division – not counting the shortened pandemic season of 2021 – to go undefeated since Cliff in 2001.

We’ve got eight double-digit seeds left who arrive at Week 2 with burgeoning dreams of more upsets. The longest shot left on the board is the 13th-seeded girls from Legacy Academy in 2A.

Sandia’s girls are seeking to repeat in 5A. The Matadors, led by BYU signee, senior guard Sydney Benally – the other metro player who has surpassed 2,000 career points – and No. 1 Hobbs are heavily favored to square off Saturday in the final. Which would bring the season full circle, since they also opened against one another, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

That was Hobbs’ only loss; the Eagles have won 27 in a row since, the longest winning streak entering Week 2.

If you want to catch Corona’s Harper Dunn, who has more than two dozen Division I offers, the imposing sophomore (26 points, 27 rebounds, 11 blocks in the first round) will be at Bernalillo High at 8 a.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

The 4A boys bracket is, as I’ve previously asserted, the most interesting of the 10 this week. No way to know which of the remaining eight will be hoisting a blue trophy come Saturday afternoon.

The 2A brackets are the two that are guaranteed to have a new champion. Peñasco’s girls didn’t make the playoffs, and ATC from Santa Fe moved from 2A to 3A this season. Only two brackets, 3A boys and 1A boys, haven’t seen an upset yet.

Of course, the arrival of Week 2 brings with it the hope of anarchy. Buzzer beaters, individual brilliance, unlikely stories. All that. Don’t know how much of any of that we’ll see this week, but it’s the promise of the unknown that is part of the allure that brings us back every March to the OG.

Let’s have some fun.