GRANTS, N.M. - The West Mesa Mustangs dealt the Pirates their first loss of the new year as the Pirates went 1-2 at a recent tournament in Bernalillo last weekend. It may have been 4A “ Bernalillo Tournament,” however, 5A teams were were well represented at the tournament.
The Pirate’s first game against West Mesa (5-6) ended up with a 58-46 loss followed by a 61-48-point loss to the 5-6 Monzano Monarchs who are also 5A.
In the West Mesa game, senior Coudy Melonas had 18 points 4 offensive boards and 5 defensive boards followed by sophomore guard Daniel Garcia with 13 points. Elijah Marquez and Cardenio Chavez had 7 points apiece.
In the Manzano game Elijah Marquez had 8 points followed by point guard Elizah Ortega and Coudy Melonas with 7 apiece.
“Playing three 5A programs right out of the break is never easy,” said GHS head boys basketball coach Landon Chavez of the teams 1-2 run at the tournament.
“We competed against West Mesa and Manzano and were able to break through with a big win over Eldorado, which says a lot about our group.”
The Eldorado game was a good win for the Pirates over a respected 5A program.
“We played much better against Eldorado—we shot the ball well and led for almost the entire game,” said Chavez. “They’re a big, athletic team that can really shoot it—but our guys competed for 32 minutes and stayed poised.”
Daniel Garcia led the Pirates with 15 points followed by Elijah Marquez and Meliki Torres with 11 apiece in the Eldorado game.
“Going 1-2 in the Bernalillo Tournament isn’t terrible considering the level of competition,” said Chavez.
Next up for the Pirates is an away game with 5A Farmington (10-3) on January 6th.
Following that the Pirates travel I-40 west to a big local tournament the 82nd Annual Gallup Bengals basketball invitational. The Pirates will play a tough 3A team,Tohatchi (9-2) in the first round at 2:30pm on Thursday, January 8th.
Last year the Pirate lost Tohatchi at this tournament 69-64.
“Farmington is a tough match up and we are excited for the challenge at the Gallup Tournament,” said Chavez as he summed up his week.