Valley boys basketball proves to be the class of New Mexico boys basketball

Players from the Valley (Albuquerque) boys basketball team knew winning the 5A state championship game over Atrisco Heritage Academy (Albuquerque) last Saturday was a big deal when they saw longtime Vikings coach Joe Coleman and his assistants in tears afterward in the locker room.

"Our coaches are kind of manly, and to see them cry, you knew it meant a lot," said senior shooting guard Adonis Saltes, who scored a game-high 26 points, including 16 in the final quarter in the 56-42 victory. "That was the first time I've ever seen coach's soft side a little bit. It was great to see him show that kind of emotion."

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Coleman was emotional for a number of reasons, having just watched his team cap a stellar 27-2 season in front of a raucous crowed estimated at 12,000 at the Pit, the iconic basketball venue on the campus of the University of New Mexico. Not only was top-seeded Valley the best team in the state from the beginning of the season — unlike some teams that merely get hot at the end of the year — but the Vikings also didn't have a single starter taller than 6-foot-2.

It didn't matter.

Valley played tenacious perimeter defense, blocked out with authority and displayed fundamental team basketball in winning a state title for the first time since 1996. The Vikings finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 90 in the country in the MaxPreps Computer Rankings.

Coleman will forever remember this team, especially the seniors, many of whom he has known for the last 10 years.

"Some of these kids have been around my house growing up with my son (Bo Coleman) since they were 7 or 8 years old," Coleman said. "You've got guys like Troy (Giddings), Robert (Armijo), Aaron (Molina). They all played together with my son in the YAFL (Youth American Football League), and then in the Pee Wee League, where they won five or six Super Bowls together.

"Then they went 11-1 (this past football season to help Valley reach the 5A state semifinals). And then you have two other guys on the basketball team (Joseph Anaya and Chris Martinez) who grew up around our family. That's when I got emotional, just knowing the journey we've been through."

No one understood the journey more than Saltes, who transferred to Valley after spending his first two years at Farmington in the Four Corners Region of the state.

"This was the way I envisioned how my high school career would end, but you never know if it's going to work out," Saltes said. "I'm grateful we won."

Although Saltes and Anaya proved to be two of the best players in the state — Anaya finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in the championship game — it was the role players who proved to be the X-factor. Armijo, a four-year varsity starter at point guard, did a superb job of controlling the tempo and getting the ball in the hands of his top scorers. When Armijo needed a rest, Martinez was there to take care of the ball and knock down a clutch shot on occasion.

Coleman could always count on his son, Bo, to defend and rebound as if his life depended on it. Same with Giddings, who at 6-2 had to guard the opposing team's center every game.

When Coleman needed a rest, Jahlil Ford came in to provide instant offense. Ford had 16 points in the team's 50-45 opening-round win over No. 16 seed Cibola (Albuquerque), which turned out to be Valley's toughest game of the tournament.

And when Giddings needed a breather, Molina came in and provided an ability to score points in a hurry. The most impressive part of Valley's season was its ability to consistently win when things got tough — it was 8-1 in games decided by seven points or less.

"If you look at our record, you would think we blew people out," Joe Coleman said. "But that was not the case at all. We just had tough kids. Any time they got down in a game, they didn't freak out. They just played through it and battled."

Indeed, even Saltes wondered at times how the team prevailed against bigger teams.

"Shoot, we're short," he said. "I don't know how we got rebounds sometimes, but we did. It just shows our mindset in wanting to finish our opponents off."