GRANTS, N.M. - The Grants High School Pirates went 2-1 at the 82nd Gallup Invitational and then took a 77-68 loss against the second ranked team in 4A, Hope Christian on January 11. When the dust cleared on a tough schedule, the Pirates ended up ranked 10th in 4A according to the Maxpreps.com ranking.
In the first match up of the Gallup Invitational on Thursday, January 8 they played 3A powerhouse, the Tohatchi Cougars (11-3), where they lost that game by a close 55-52 score.
On Friday, January 9, they defeated Thoreau (67) 59-44. The Pirates wrapped up the tournament with a 60-44 win over Miyamura (3-10) on Saturday, January 10th.
When asked about the Gallup Invitational tournament GHS boys basketball head coach Landon Chavez said, “The Gallup tournament was a success overall. Tohatchi was a tough matchup and honestly a game we feel we should have won.”
Chavez added, “The response from our guys was big—bouncing back with wins against Thoreau and Miyamura showed a lot of resilience and growth.”
The Pirates have a hectic and tough schedule to say the least. After one day of rest, Sunday, they played the second ranked Hope Christian (8-5) and lost that game by a score of 77-68.
Chavez said of Hope Christian before the game that they were “big” and “can shoot and score high”.
If that was not a full enough schedule for you, the Pirates travel to Espanola Valley (4-12) on Tuesday, January 13th.
Chavez said of the Espanola Valley match-up, “Their record does not reflect how good they are—especially at home.”
The Pirates wrap-up the week with a game at Bernalillo (3-13) on January 16.
“We close out the regular season with Bernalillo—our goal is to go 2-1 this week–but we know it will not be easy,” Chavez said.
The Lady Pirates are 96 after splitting their last two games. On January 6 they traveled to Shiprock and lost that game 55-42. On January 7 they hit the road again, this time to Thoreau and defeated them 63-33. Next up for the lady Pirates will be Miyamura High School (4-8) on January 13 at home.
The Lady Hawks of Laguna-Acoma are 9-4 after two recent wins. They defeated Legacy Christian Academy on January 10 by a score of 52-33.
The Laguna-Acoma boys team is currently 2-11 after splitting their last two games. On January 9 they lost to Cuba 67-55 and then took a “W” against Santa Fe Prep, 52-38.
Next up for the Hawks will be Dulce on January 22 at home.