Cibola Sports

The Grants High School Boys’ Basketball team had a slow start in districts and are 0-2 in district play after two recent district games. The Pirates faced a tough Valencia Jaguar team in their home district opener on Tuesday, January 17.

The Pirates only trailed by three points, 13-16, after the first quarter. However, Valencia’s Richi Baca hit three treys in the second quarter coupled with eight points by Carlos Tafoya with the rest of the Jaguar team contributing six more points to give Valencia a 42-29 lead at the half. The Pirates’ John “JJ” Horacek, a sophomore, mustered eight points while the rest of the team chipped in five points in that second quarter.

The third quarter had the Pirates outscored 22-8 for a 64-37 lead for the Jaguars. The Pirates were able to shore up the points in the fourth quarter as they only allowed Valencia to outscore them by six points–yet–the total point deficit was too large to overcome and the Pirates lost their district opener by a score of 82-61.

Top Scorers for the Pirates were John “JJ” Horacek with 17 points and Boudy Melonas with 11 points followed by Noah Victorino with 10 points.

Valencia “Came in firing on all cylinders — they had players score over 20 points,” said GHS head coach Landon Chavez. “We knew they were athletic and would be tough—-their size and physicality was difficult to handle — we have to find a way to box out and rebound with teams that have more size.”

On Friday, January 20 the Pirates traveled to St. Pius, current top team in the Pirates district for their second district game and lost that game 86-61. “Going against Pius we knew that their size would be difficult – we hung in the game however second chance points and their points off of turnovers made it a deficit where we trailed by almost 20 at the half,” said Chavez. “We started with a quicker line-up in the second half and pressed but were unable to cut it (point deficit) to single digital” John “JJ” Horacek led the Pirates with 17 points followed by Noah Victorino with 16 points in that game.

Next up for the Pirates are the 12-6,1-0 Highland Hornets who are number two in district 4A 5 and number two in the Maxpreps state rankings for 4A. The Hornets will come in stinging as they just defeated the current number one ranked team in 4A, the Academy Chargers, by a score of 72-61. “We will look to compete and find a way to slow them down,” said Chavez. Currently the Pirates are 7-11, 0-2.

The Lady Pirates also went 0-2 in their first two games of district play as they lost to Valencia High School (13-5,1–0) by a score of 6130. The game was played on Tuesday, January 17.

On Thursday, February 19, the Lady Pirates traveled to St. Pius and lost that contest by a slimmer margin 5339. “We executed our game plan by keeping the ball out of their post and closing out on the three-point shooter,” said Lady Pirate basketball coach Douglas “Dougie” Hickman. “They made adjustment in the second half and were able to get the ball to their post and we missed open shots.”

Next up for the Lady Pirates will be the Lady Hornets of Highland High school (9-10, 1-0) in a home game on Tuesday, January 24. “With Highland, we are evenly matched and we should be able to execute our game plan on them,” said Hickman. The Lady Pirates are currently 8-11, 02.

Cibola County Sports Round-Up

The Laguna-Acoma Lady Hawks will open up their district play with the Rehoboth Lynx 4-8 on Tuesday, January 24 in a home game. The Lady Hawks are also ranked sixth in the Maxpreps state rankings and are ranked eighth in the most recent New Mexico Overtime Sports coaches poll with a current record of 11-8.

The Laguna-Acoma Hawks boys basketball team is currently 5-14 as they open up their district play also in a home game on Tuesday, January 17 at The Nest.