By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
Basketball: Knights Keep Showdown in Order
Class 4A's top-ranked boys basketball team may have its eye on another state championship game opportunity, but the Del Norte Knights will first try to beat rival St. Pius for a second time this season Friday.
St. Pius beat Del Norte in last year's 4A title contest, but the Knights upended the Sartans in their only meeting earlier this season.
Tuesday, Del Norte (15-6, 7-0 in 5-4A) took care of business by winning a big road contest at Academy.
The Knights didn't grab the lead until midway through the fourth quarter against the host Chargers and didn't get it for good until Sean Plake got a steal with 50 seconds left and fed teammate Scott Bamforth for a go-ahead layup. Del Norte then hit free throws down the stretch for a 68-63 victory. Bamforth, who is averaging 23 points a game, had 35 in the win over Academy.
Del Norte coach Gerome Espinoza said that the district, which produced both finalists in 2006, may be tougher this season.
"Last year, it was kind of us and Pius fighting it out. This year, Academy's in the mix, Belen's in the mix - it's actually a pretty tough district overall," Espinoza said.
Although his squad is top-rated, for the moment, Espinoza believes the entire classification is up for grabs.
"4A is wide open this year, so who knows? There's some good teams out there," he said. "Capital, Espanola, Farmington, Roswell - there's a bunch of good teams in it."
In girls basketball, La Cueva's recent victory over district rival Sandia may be an indication of Class 5A opening up in a similar fashion.
Sandia started the year No. 1 in the big schools division, but the Bears burst the Matadors' bubble last week with a 54-45 win at La Cueva. Since, the Bears have also knocked off Santa Fe and Albuquerque High in District 2-5A battles.
In the Bears' win over Sandia, senior Laura Burnett scored a team-high 26 points while La Cueva junior Brenna Freeze added 14.
La Cueva coach Greg Berger inserted Burnett into the starting lineup in the middle of the season, a move that seems to have aided the Bears' productivity in general.
"The other teams have, like, Madi Spence (of Mayfield), Kendra Coveal (of Sandia) and Ebony Bunton in Clovis - really outstanding single players," Berger said. "But I think we do a nice job as a team."
Berger's squad, now 17-3 overall, will play Sandia again Feb. 16.
"The other losses we had were to Mayfield and Clovis, although our loss to Cibola kind of hurt us in the polls because we lost by 20 to them," Berger said. "And Sandia, although they had been beating teams by 30 or 40 points, I felt like we had been a little more battle-tested."