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Let’s start by paraphrasing a line from the 2015 movie “The Martian”: For the record, many of you are not going to like this.
The topic concerns state high school records. What they mean, and the dicey task of placing them into context. Nothing about this is absolute.
This will be one of the most slippery slopes I’ve ever attempted to navigate, and have accepted that no matter how delicately and carefully the following words are arranged, this is going to strike a nerve in a whole bunch of people who are going to enthusiastically tell me that I’ve horribly butchered this narrative.
That being said, let me try to lay this out.
The trigger point for me is the flurry of new record holders for 3-pointers in a boys varsity basketball game. This mark has been tied, or broken, three times already in 2025.
Jett Curtis of Texico was first, tying the record of 15 on Jan. 3. Pablo Romero of Springer came along eight days later, burying 16 from behind the arc to break the record. And 26 days after that, Volcano Vista sharpshooter Rian Gonzales knocked down 17 to break the record yet again.
This is where I take pause. To be clear, none of this is upsetting in the least, but one aspect of it does rub me the wrong way.
It’s the optics. Plain and simple. All three of these records were accomplished in a game where the clock was running in the fourth quarter and the team that was ahead was up by dozens of points. Texico won by 48 points. Springer by 60. Volcano Vista by 53.
In other words, these stunning individual moments, and they were stunning, were, in a very real way, pretty much scripted, at least at the end.
The best records, I would argue, are the ones that sneak up on you, catch you by surprise. Team records, naturally, are an entirely different animal from those set in what we consider individual sports.
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I’m referring primarily, but not exclusively, to the sports that are measured by time, like cross country, track’s running events, and swimming, and those measured perhaps by weight or distance/height, like powerlifting or track’s field events.
When a state record falls in a sport like track or swimming, it’s usually a spontaneous, exciting snapshot. Organic. Like when a swimmer touches the wall, or a runner hits the finish line. Even a sport like golf applies; it was just three years ago when Cibola’s Aiden Krafft shot the best round any New Mexican prep golfer has ever carded, a 60 at Twin Warriors at the state tournament. Every bit of that round was, of course, unplanned and unexpected, and thus exhilarating.
This 3-point record feels 180 degrees from all of that. As magnificent as these shooting performances were, they feel somewhat manufactured.
I ran my theory past Piedra Vista coach Forrest Becker, who was on the other end of Gonzales’ history-making evening on Feb. 6. He adamantly disagreed with me across the board. Fair enough.
If anyone has a right to be upset at what happened that night, Becker told me, it was him. And he wasn’t. Repeated this several times. Said it was simply one of those things that happens in basketball, and that probably only the very small percentage of people (coaches, players) who are involved in the sport would truly understand this. The masses, he said, probably would not.
Volcano Vista coach Greg Brown agreed the optics were probably not ideal, but said it was such a special night for his player, a popular player, and his team was so fervently behind helping him get the record (a VV player even called a late timeout to ensure that chance), that the Hawks were only too happy to help Gonzales get to 17 down the stretch. And Brown didn’t want to interfere with their wishes. It must be stated, this is a fair point. How could a coach say “no” when one of their kids is in the midst of the night of his life, and all his teammates want it to happen?
Perhaps this is merely a generational thing. I am 58. I don’t belong to either of the two latest generations. And I must concede that my take on this is going to differ from many others for this very reason. I’m admittedly an old school guy, though I still have deep love and energy covering this beat. And by no means am I looking to legislate all of this.
Moreover, none of this should be taken as an indictment on any of the kids involved. They all are to be commended for their shooting prowess. They’ve each earned the right to flex. It takes remarkable skill to stand out there and pump in that many 3-pointers in a single game, no matter what the score. All three of these kids deserve their kudos, and if another kid drops 18 triples in a game next week, I’ll write about him, too, gladly. That’s the job.
And this isn’t even taking poisonous aim at any of the coaches involved. I talked at length to Brown about my intentions with this column, and Greg is someone who is beyond reproach, so far as I am concerned, both as a man and coach. I couldn’t possibly think higher of him. He’s a solid guy, full of integrity.
Maybe what this all boils down to is wishful thinking. Maybe — probably? — this is the way these types of records have always been broken. Basketball and football are unique in this way since you need teammates, and coaches, to be of a similar mind.
In basketball’s case, trends can’t be ignored. The 3-point shot, perhaps starting with Steph Curry, has become a dominant thing in the NBA, to the point that many believe the sport is hemorrhaging viewers because the game is now a such a 3-point spectacle.
Naturally, the preponderance of 3-point attempts has filtered its way down, to the college ranks, and to the high school ranks. At every level, we’re seeing more 3-pointers attempted than ever before.
So, it stands to reason that this particular record would be under siege like never before. Someone seems likely to reach 20 in a game, sooner rather than later.
I suspect all of this will be a polarizing subject, especially in a state that loves its prep basketball like New Mexico. I certainly welcome discourse on this from both sides of the fence, so let me hear from you, good or bad. My email address is jyodice@abqjournal.com. Drop me a note, just try to keep your observations as polite and reasoned as the tone I have tried to strike here today.
