Video: MPHC Dunk Contest Mixtape 2015
See highlights from the MaxPreps Holiday Classic dunk contest.The eighth-annual Albuquerque Metro Championship Basketball Tournament - arguably the No. 1 in-season tourney in the state - will begin Tuesday with 16-team fields in the boys and girls ranks. Sixty-four games will be played over four days, using 12 different sites, according to director Ed Drangmeister.
Each team is guaranteed four games, while the third-place and championship games are scheduled to be held Saturday at Atrisco Heritage Academy in Albuquerque. The field includes 13 Albuquerque public schools plus Rio Rancho, Cleveland (Rio Rancho) and Hope Christian (Albuquerque).
No. 1 girls seed
Cibola (Albuquerque) is the defending state champion, 8-0 this season and riding a 24-game winning streak.
The No. 1 boys seed,
Albuquerque High, however, has stumbled to a 5-3 record following a 4-0 start. Coach Ron Garcia told MaxPreps, "We have to develop some consistency. We had a 12-day layoff. We only have seven home games and six of our first eight games were on the road. We are going to play 13 straight games on the road and won't be home again until Jan. 22."
The Bulldogs have an outstanding leader in 6-foot-1 senior guard
Gabe Bump, who averages 21.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.8 steals. He had 31, 26 and 25 points in his last few games.
Allonzo Armijo, a 6-foot senior guard, averages 13.1 points, but no other players are averaging in double figures.
Gabe Bump, Albuquerque High
Photo courtesy of Victor Garcia
Among the Bulldogs' losses was a 71-65 setback to
Hope Christian (Albuquerque) in the semifinals of the Jalene Berger Allstate Holiday Hoops Classic at Rio Rancho.
Jordan Leake, a 6-1 senior guard, led the Huskies with 27 points. They then won the tourney with a 60-32 rout of Espanola Valley (Espanola) in the finals, as 6-3 senior forward
Caleb Meyer-Hagen scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Leake, who added 12 points, was named MVP.
No. 8 seed Hope Christian, loser only to Onate (Las Cruces) in nine outings, has won the Metro Tourney twice in the first seven years and has to be one of the favorites now.
Garcia noted, "(Hope Christian coach Jim Murphy) does a great job. He's at the 4A level with 6A talent. He has a nice solid five kids. They are playing really well right now."
The No. 2 boys seed is
Cleveland (Rio Rancho), which is loaded with players from its unbeaten Class 6A state football champion. The Storm have an 8-4 record, but three of the losses were to out-of-state teams.
The Cibola girls - who also are defending metro tourney champs - are led by 5-10 sophomore sensation
Amaya Brown, who is being watched closely by the likes of defending NCAA champion UConn and Louisville. She gets plenty of help from 5-11 junior
Corbyn Cunningham, 5-8 senior
Dmitri Fong and 5-5 junior
Kavionnia Brown.
Coach Lori Mabrey admitted in the preseason, "We definitely will have a bulls eye on our back," but the Cougars continue to roll.
Their biggest challenge may come from No. 2 seed
Volcano Vista (Albuquerque), which has a 7-1 record, losing only to No. 3 seed
La Cueva (Albuquerque), 56-49.
