The Grants High School boys’ basketball team traveled to Bernalillo and went 0-3 at the Terry Darnell Tournament. The Pirates spent a lot of energy and fought hard against Del Norte (64) and came up short 5954 in their first game. The Pirates regrouped and played the number one ranked team in 4A and district rival, the St. Pius Sartans (9-3), in a very competitive game that went to the wire. However, they came up short 56-53. The Pirates had the last possession and a bad pass in the final seconds of the game dashed all hopes of tying it up or winning it. In their 3rd game of the tournament the Pirates led Kirtland Central (4-7) by one point late in the 4th quarter, 6261. With three seconds left a foul by junior guard,Tristin Fernandez on KC’s inbounds play, put KC on the free throw line. Both free throws found their mark putting KC ahead by one and sealing the win for them—the final score was 63-62.
Next up for the Pirates are the 5A Farmington Scorpions on Wednesday, January 8th. The Scorpions are currently 9-4 and the Pirate are currently 4-5.
The Lady Pirates went 1-2 in a tournament they participated in over the weekend. They played Bloomfield (7-4), a team they narrowly lost to by a score of 38-37 earlier in the season. In this more recent match-up they lost by a score of 45-37. On January 3 they played the Lady Knights of Del Norte (3-6) and lost by a score of 44-38. On the 4th of January the Lady Pirates got the dub against Rio Grande (1-9) by a score of 65-31.
The Lady Pirates are currently 5-8 and will play the Thoreau Hawks on January 8 in an anticipated match up between former player and now Grants High School girls basketball head coach Jesie Mandagaran and her former coach, Joe Hernandez, who is the Lady Hawks head coach. Hernandez and his Hawks are, 6-5, and coming off a 2nd place showing at a recent tournament in Tucumcari.
“This is the first time I’ve coached against a former player,” said Hernandez. “I’m looking forward to opportunities for my players.”
Hernandez coached the lady Pirates from 2000-2007 and Coach Mandagaran played under Hernandez in the early 2000’s.
“Hopefully we come out on top,” concluded Hernadez.
The Laguna-Acoma Hawks boys basketball team are 2-7 and will host Zuni (7-3) on January 7th.
The Lady Hawks are 4-4 and will play Mc-Curdy (5-3) on January 9th on the road