By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
The North fired the opening salvo of the Class 3A All-Star weekend, but the South won the remaining two contests - the last by the narrowest of margins - to claim overall victory. Recent graduates of 3A schools around the state gathered to participate in North/South contests in girls basketball, boys basketball and football at Highlands University on Friday and Saturday (July 13-14) in Las Vegas.
Girls Basketball
Midway through the first half, the North held only a one-point lead before racing away for a 91-67 victory.
South turnovers, caused often by extended defensive pressure, began to take a toll as the North rattled off 11-straight points for a 19-7 lead with 10:30 left before intermission.
The end of the run was a basket by West Las Vegas' Vera Jo Bustos, who finished with 15 points. Less than a minute later, when the South committed its ninth turnover, Crownpoint's Trudy Manuelita capitalized with a three-point play for a 25-9 North lead.
The North's advantage was eventually trimmed to nine when Ruidoso's Hailee Bob hit a pair of free throws with 6:34 left in the game. But the North squad, led by Kara Tafoya's 17 points, responded with a back-breaking 17-3 run to push ahead 81-58 late.
Bob was the South MVP while Tafoya grabbed the same honor for the victors. With the win, the North now holds a 4-1 overall advantage in the 3A all-star series.
"It's very exciting. I never thought I'd be an MVP at an all-star game. I didn't think I'd get it, to be honest," said Tafoya, a Pojoaque grad who hit several key 3-pointers as the North pulled out to a commanding lead.
Prior to the game, recent Portales coach Brenda Gomez was honored as coach of the year and winner of the Ralph Bowyer Character Award. Gomez recently resigned from the school to take a head coaching opportunity at Waco (Texas) Robinson High.
"I didn't expect it at all. It was a good ending to have all these kids here," said Gomez, who had five players represented on the South squad. "It's special to have them all at the all-star game."
Boys Basketball
With an 86-74 win, the South bounced back in the nightcap of the hoops doubleheader and now holds a 4-3 edge in the seven-year series. The victorious squad had a whole lot of help from Albuquerque southerners to get the job done as Hope Christian's Zack Spangler and Ryan Gladwell scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, to help the South draw away from the North midway through the first half.
Holding a 19-18 lead, a three-pointer from Gladwell kicked off a 13-0 run and the South led by over 10 points the rest of the way. Gladwell earned Most Valuable Player honors for the South while Robertson's Isaiah Archuleta, who had 10 points, won the award for the South.
"Coach (Claud Gobble of Hatch Valley) gave us some good plays and we just had to run them," Gladwell said. "Zack was getting all the rebounds for the shots we missed. He should have been MVP."
Football
On Saturday, the South took a 7-6 victory and, with the win, grabbed its fifth triumph in the seven-year series.
Both touchdowns came in the first half. The North struck first when a proven combination from Robertson, the two-time 3A state champs, hit paydirt.
Cardinals' quarterback Ethan Maestas capped off a 70-yard drive by finding former Robertson mate Nathan Vigil for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
That play, the last of the first quarter, put the North up 6-0. But the extra point attempt by kicker Dwayne Butler of Crownpoint was low and blocked by the middle of the South defensive line.
The South offense, meanwhile, was stagnant until getting the ball with just over three minutes left in the first half. At the North 45, South quarterback John Chavez of Socorro - after a convincing fake - kept the ball and ran 11 yards for a first down.
"He's been running that play for two years, so he knows what's going on. He does a real good job on that," said South coach Ken Stevens, who also was Chavez' coach in Socorro. "We struggled quite a bit on offense. They (the North) did a real good job, so give them credit for that. But we made the plays when we had to."
Chavez' carry was followed by a 13-yard jaunt by Socorro running back Sefie Winders down to the North 21. Six plays later, Robby Vickers of Hot Springs kept the ball out of a single-wing formation and plowed in from the three-yard line for a touchdown. With 44 seconds left before intermission, the South added the extra point on a kick by NMMI's Andrew Cowan to go ahead.
The North offense, which had started solidly behind the quarterbacking of Maestas and the receiving of St. Michael's Robbie Castillo, began to slow down immensely in the second half. South linemen, such as Hatch Valley's Zane Dulin and Socorro's Brian Tafoya, increasingly brought pressure on Maestas - who finished with 177 yards passing - as the game wore on.
On the other side of the ball, just when the North was desperate to get the ball back, gaps began to open up for Winders. In the last four minutes, Winders twice ran for first downs to keep the clock running.
"I think that, during the week, we just practiced so hard," said Winders, who finished with 91 yards rushing. "They (the North) just started getting down."
"We were running a two-platoon while they were putting their best all the way around," Vickers said. "All week long, our coach said that the first half was going to be a war, but in the second half we'd be fresh."
Castillo, who caught eight passes for 120 yards, earned Most Valuable Player honors for the North. Socorro's Chato Alvarado, who grabbed three passes for 52 yards, was named MVP for the winning South.
"I think the key was we didn't play the field position game very well," said North coach Brock Walton of Raton. "I enjoyed these kids from day one, though. They were phenomenal kids to coach on the field and, off the field, they were even better."