Yodice: The moments and players to remember from a spectacular 2024-25 prep sports season

The just-completed 2024-25 prep sports year was a bit like a giant buffet, with so many options to choose from as we recap an exceptionally strong nine months of games and dynasties and athletes and news.

Where do we begin?

HAWKEYE: We must, as a basketball-centric state, begin inside the Pit on the night of March 15.

There are any number of New Mexico prep dynasties going strong at the moment with more — in several cases, many more — consecutive championships than the Volcano Vista boys.

But their fourth straight blue trophy, earned with a nail-biting overtime win over Sandia, gave us one of the memorable individual game highlights of the entire school year.

The Hawks in 2024 already had the distinction of being the first large-division program from Albuquerque to win as many as three titles in a row, and now this fourth further cements this as one of the great basketball runs in the state’s history.

OFF THE GRID: Cleveland won the Class 6A state football championship, 26-8 over La Cueva on the final Saturday of November at Wilson Stadium. For the Storm, it was the program’s fourth blue trophy since 2019.

Roswell beat rival Artesia in the 5A final at Wool Bowl as the Coyotes avenged a loss to the Bulldogs in the previous year’s state championship game.

The other five football classifications all produced undefeated winners: Bloomfield in 4A, St. Michael’s in 3A, Texico in 2A, Melrose in 8-Man and Logan in 6-Man. The last year in which there were as many as five unbeaten state champs was 2017.

Although La Cueva did not win state, the Bears were involved in the single most anticipated game of the regular season, a neutral-site matchup in Flagstaff against Phoenix power Pinnacle.

La Cueva scored 15 points in the final two minutes of regulation to force overtime, then won the game 39-32 in the second OT.

It was the first time one of the prep football teams from Albuquerque Public Schools had left New Mexico to play someone from outside the state since 1972.

La Cueva had another distinction. The Bears sent three players — quarterback Cam Dyer (Arizona State), linebacker Mason Posa (Wisconsin) and offensive tackle Mark Handy (Minnesota) — off to Division I programs, and there was consensus that no New Mexico program had ever before yielded three D1 signees off the same team.

STORY ARC: With each passing season, the 3-point shot becomes more and more prevalent in high school basketball, and oh boy did that manifest itself in a big way this year.

The boys individual game record for 3s was under barrage in the first few weeks of 2025. Jett Curtis of Texico tied the record of 15 on Jan. 3. Eight days later, Pablo Romero of Springer broke it with 16; his brother Estevan was tied for the mark, with Curtis, at 15. Romero that night also scored 33 points in a single quarter, a state record.

And then on Feb. 6, Rian Gonzales of Volcano Vista buried 17 from the arc in a win over Piedra Vista, and owns the record by himself now. He also finished with 62 points that night, tied for sixth all-time for a single game. The 62 is an APS single-game record. Gonzales’ previous career high for points in a game before that night? 23.

Gonzales also hit nine 3s in a state semifinal win over Roswell, which is second all-time for a state tournament game, but the most ever from a player in the largest class.

THIS AND THAT, PART 1: Belen senior Rylee Salome earlier this month became just the third girl to ever win four individual state golf championships, while Annie Yost of Piedra Vista, with a 66 in the second round, carded one of the best-ever rounds in the history of the tournament en route to her victory in the 5A event. … Counting the doubles title this year by Vivica and Vianca Corley, the four Corley sisters (including Ivana and Carmen) from Eldorado finished with 11 total state championships — seven in singles, four in doubles. … Albuquerque Academy girls swimming captured a ninth consecutive championship; Academy’s boys, plus Cottonwood Classical in both genders, were the other team champions. … At that state meet, La Cueva’s Chloe Ashe broke the state record for points in 1-meter diving. … Volcano Vista became the first program from APS to win three straight big-school wrestling titles. Mason Posa of La Cueva and Roman Luttrell, along with Cruz Martinez of West Las Vegas, became four-time individual state champions. Cleveland was the overall girls wrestling state champion.

MOURNING: The last two executive directors of the New Mexico High School Coaches Association died within a few weeks of each other toward the end of 2024.

Bobby Gibbs died on Oct. 16, a day after his 88th birthday.

The man who replaced him at the NMHSCA, Buster Mabrey, died on Dec. 30 after 16 years on the job. Buster was 57. He died after a very lengthy hospitalization.

Earlier this year, Cleveland High softball coach Angel Castillo, a Silver City native, was chosen to take over the coaches’ association.

There were others we’ve lost since my last year-ender column.

Like longtime and beloved Moriarty track/cross country coach Joe Bailey, who passed on Sept. 26 at age 65. Like former Albuquerque High great Greg Brown, 51, a point guard who led the Bulldogs to a basketball title in 1990, and who died June 14 in a car crash. Like Pete MacFarlane, who served as Sandia Prep’s athletic director for over 40 years and who died July 23 at age 77. Longtime APS contributing personnel Jerri Robertson and Gary Spitzburg also left us in the last year.

More recently, Santa Fe Indian School boys basketball coach Jason Abeyta, 47, and SFIS’ assistant athletic director, Nate Abeyta, 42, were killed in a car crash in northern New Mexico on April 17.

THIS AND THAT, PART 2: Junior Tanner Montaño of La Cueva tied track and field’s oldest individual record with a long jump of 24 feet, 3¼ inches at this month’s state meet. … Four of the five schools that won baseball titles — Sandia in 5A, Artesia in 4A, Santa Rosa in 2A and Magdalena in 1A — ended a combined 149 years of championship drought. … Albuquerque Academy boys tennis won its 22nd straight title, and are now just four years from tying the national record. Academy won a whopping team championships during the year. … Cleveland boys track and field has won large-school state nine straight seasons. … Sandia’s boys, plus Portales and Legacy Academy, were champions at the second official state powerlifting state event; the Rams paid tribute to a fallen teammate, junior Xavier Lujan, who had been killed in a car crash just a few days prior to state. … Alamogordo, Lovington and Estancia were the girls state champions in powerlifting.

ON THE PITCH: If there were a state final to rival the Sandia-Volcano Vista boys basketball championship game for pure drama, it was the Class 5A boys soccer showdown between Centennial and La Cueva.

The game at UNM was probably just seconds away from a shootout when the Hawks scored in the 100th minute for a 2-1 overtime win over the Bears, Centennial’s first blue trophy in this sport.

In 4A, Albuquerque Academy and St. Pius DID require PKs, and the Chargers won the shootout 6-5. New Mexico Military Institute’s boys went back-to-back in 1A-3A, downing Santa Fe Prep.

La Cueva’s girls, along with Hope Christian and Sandia Prep, gave the metro area a sweep. The Huskies finished as the state’s only undefeated team, ending the season with a victory over rival Academy. Both Hope and Sandia Prep are state champions for a fourth time in a row.

NATIONAL DOINGS: Longtime La Cueva High girls track and field coach Jim Ciccarello in March was announced as the 10th New Mexican to gain induction into the National Federation of High Schools Hall of Fame. This is regarded as the most prestigious of any of the high school-themed HOFs.

“All these years of coaching, I’ve had my share of honors,” he said. “But this is probably the No. 1 honor you can get.”

Rio Rancho senior runner Charlie Vause was under a national microscope twice. First, when he captured first place at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland in early December.

Then, about 10 weeks later, Vause, who signed to run for BYU, was recognized by Gatorade as the 2024-25 National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. He became just the second New Mexico to receive such an honor from Gatorade.

His primary running rival, Corbin Coombs from Organ Mountain, was the state cross country champion in 5A, and won three track titles earlier this month, at the three distances.

But Coombs, who signed with Wake Forest, also multiple times this calendar year broke New Mexico’s prep indoor record in the mile as he competed on the East Coast.

Siblings Lorenzo and Esperanza Gallegos from Volcano Vista became All-American wrestlers following the regular season.

Corona High's 6-foot-6 sophomore Harper Dunn this very weekend was one of the girls invited to try out for the USA Women's under-16 national team in Colorado Springs.

THIS AND THAT, PART 3: Among the undefeated state champions in Class 5A in 2024-25 were Las Cruces High volleyball (27-0) and Centennial softball (30-0). … Artesia had an exceptional year. The Bulldogs won state in boys basketball and baseball, and reached the state final in other sports like volleyball and football. … Quemado’s state volleyball championship in 1A was its first since 1977. … On the Gianna Rahmer front, the Eldorado freshman went back-to-back at state cross country, and added a pair of individual state titles at the recent 5A track meet. … Roswell won 5A state dance for the fifth consecutive year, while Sandia Prep also won state. La Cueva’s cheerleaders were state champions for a second straight season.

ON THE HARDWOOD: We mentioned Artesia, which was a boys basketball champion for the first time in 28 years as the Bulldogs beat defending champion Highland.

Robertson’s coach, James Branch, was removed from duty just before a January game, and later was arrested, jailed and charged with criminal sexual contact of a middle school student where he taught.

But the Cardinals overcame that midseason turbulence to win the 3A title, taking down rival St. Michael’s in the final.

Sandia’s girls went back-to-back in 5A, as the Matadors, sparked by the Benally sisters, senior Sydney and freshman Kaiyah, defeated Hobbs in the final, their 30th win of the season.

The Roy/Mosquero girls from 1A also won 30 games, and were the state’s only unbeaten basketball team in either gender. Navajo Prep girls in 3A also won state for the second straight March.

Gallup’s girls took down Kirtland Central in the 4A title game with the season’s biggest and loudest crowd in attendance.

THIS AND THAT, PART 4: On April 22, Aleah Alvarado of Rio Rancho, who hadn’t hit a home run all season, bashed four of them in a single game versus Volcano Vista, becoming just the third girl to ever accomplish this feat in New Mexico. … Los Lunas baseball pulled off perhaps the most massive single-game upset of 2024-25, taking down No. 1 La Cueva in the state quarterfinals. … St. Pius won 4A state volleyball for a second consecutive November. … Rio Rancho capped a dominant boys cross country season with a win at the 5A state meet for the third straight year, and Albuquerque Academy’s boys at the same meet ended a three-year run by rival Los Alamos.

ALL THE GOOD FEELS: There were two news items that struck me as particularly needing mention.

The first was Estancia senior Olavio Hernandez, who lost most of his right leg to cancer two years ago, being presented the Spirit of Sport Award by the NFHS, an award given to athletes who overcome adversity.

Hernandez played basketball and baseball this last school year for the Bears, and his story is inspiring beyond words. His NFHS award covered Section 6, which is New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The other happened early in the school year.

A coach for Volcano Vista’s JV girls soccer team, Alan Cuadra, collapsed before a game against Farmington, and Hawks athletic trainer Enrique Ochoa, who was onsite, rushed over and ended up saving Cuadra’s life. He had to resuscitate Cuadra, in point of fact.

A potentially tragic story that thankfully became a happy ending.

And it brings me to the end here today. These last nine months have been a riveting saga.

Congratulations to all the graduating seniors, and to everyone, have a wonderful summer.

August is already in a full sprint, headed in our direction.