鈥淭he girls are still learning how to play with a sense of urgency, but it鈥檚 one of these things where it鈥檚 taking a while for them to understand it,鈥 coach Bobby Romero said.
TCU, which lost to Georgia in the College Football Playoff title game following the 2022 regular season, has accepted a bid to face Louisiana on Jan. 28 at University Stadium in Albuquerque.
聽The Aggies blew a 15-point second-half lead and sent the game into OT on a boneheaded play for the ages.聽
The Demons defeated Farmington 63-61 win to defend its tournament title in Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium.
Five teams walked off with blue trophies: St. Michael鈥檚 (football and volleyball), 疯客直播 Fe Prep (girls cross-country), McCurdy (girls cross-country) and Pecos (boys cross-country).
Those moments, though, paled in comparison to what he did on Nov. 30 with the defense of a Class 3A title on the line.
Boys basketball
Demons head coach Nate Morris said the matchup was simple: Take care of the ball against the Scorpions' press. That didn't happen.
A look back at the standout high school athletes from the fall sports season.
聽The win ensured the Demons a spot in the tournament championship game against Farmington, who took down St. Michael's, 62-43, in the afternoon semifinal.
The Demons' performance was another example of the depth head coach Nate Morris boasted about after beating Los Alamos in the tournament and season opener the night before.
Cayleb Blea had 13 of his 19 points in the first half for the Phoenix, and Mikey Mora added 13.聽
ALBUQUERQUE 鈥 Consider it a fun-sized version of the Rio Grande Rivalry.
Mendenhall led New Mexico to a 5-7 mark in his first and only season at the school.
The UNM coach's departure after one year immediately opened the floodgates to a mass exodus of Lobo football standouts.
It鈥檚 been a tumultuous few months for the University of New Mexico鈥檚 athletics department. Here鈥檚 a glance at the issues unfolding since late summer:
Using just about every one of his 14 players, the Demons wore down Los Alamos to produce a 44-33 win to advance to a semifinal matchup against Pojoaque Valley, a 45-34 winner over Miyamura, at 5 p.m. Friday.
疯客直播 Fe schools occupy three of the four semifinal spots in the boys bracket of the tournament after Thursday's action, and one is guaranteed a spot in Saturday's championship game.聽
Boys basketball
Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham hired Jason Beck to be the Utes鈥 new offensive coordinator on Thursday night.
He officially joined UNM鈥檚 staff Sunday, spending his first few days getting a crash course in the stress and strain of being the Lobos鈥 boss.
Playing like a team stuck in the mud and distracted by a week鈥檚 worth of news off the court, the Lobos needed the largest comeback in the Richard Pitino era to avoid an upset bid at home, beating 18-point underdog San Jose State聽83-77聽in the Mountain West Conference opener.
When Reed Bass hears St. Michael's head boys basketball coach Dakota Montoya speak during basketball practice, he feels like he's right back on the football field, listening to Joey Fernandez.聽
After an alleged physical altercation involving a scholarship player and one of the team鈥檚 walk-ons on a flight to Palm Springs, Calif., last week, the University of New Mexico has been decidedly tight-lipped about the specifics of the incident.
New Mexico football coach Bronco Mendenhall said Tuesday the day is coming when his program will need a GM, or perhaps separate entities to make executive decisions and another to manage the payouts.
Boys basketball
Greg Sandoval reached the mountaintop Saturday 鈥 at least for a high school football official.
Girls basketball聽
UNM's defense failed to slow Hawaii, which racked up 590 total yards of offense.
The top-seeded Horsemen survived the No. 2 Dexter Demons on a 6-yard touchdown run by Cole Sandoval with 35 seconds remaining to win 28-26 in a game for the ages at 疯客直播 Fe High's Ivan Head Stadium.
The north end zone of Ivan Head Stadium was, for the most part, a house of horrors during championship Saturday.
Johnny Martinez walked away from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity once. Then, he did it again. When St. Michael's head football coach Joey Fernandez came calling once more for the veteran assistant coach in the spring of 2024, Martinez was not about to let a third chance slip through his fingers.聽
Boys basketball
Dexter will leans on a power-based wishbone formation that relies on a healthy dose of patience that often results in explosive plays.
Fast forward three months and here we are, on the verge of a remarkable turnaround that leaves Mendenhall and the Lobos one win shy of bowl eligibility.
The Demons run the ball 70% of the time; the Horsemen 68%.
The Lobos faded down the stretch of an opening-round game against Arizona State of the Acrisure Classic. UNM surrendered a pair of critical 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the final two minutes as the Sun Devils rallied for an 85-82 win.
The St. Michael's football team was on the field for a regularly scheduled workout on Thanksgiving morning. The Horsemen are preparing to play against Dexter on Saturday in the Class 3A state football championship.
The future of college sports has arrived and, by all accounts, basketball teams from one coast to the other would be wise to find where they鈥檒l eventually fit in.
Fernandez has won over 200 games at his alma mater of St. Michael's, broke a 31-yard championship drought when he led the Horsemen to the 2003 title and has claimed three more blue trophies since then. Imagine what he could do for the 疯客直播 Fe High Demons.
St. Michael鈥檚 will play the Class 3A title game at 疯客直播 Fe High鈥檚 stadium to accommodate the number of fans expected for the game against Dexter. This is the third straight year that has happened and the eighth time since the stadium was built in 1980.
Coach Richard Pitino doesn't want Lobo fans getting used to the idea of simultaneously starting both聽starting center Nelly Junior Joseph and backup Atiki Ally Atiki.
Girls basketball
A 26-point lead was just big enough for the New Mexico Highlands University men鈥檚 basketball.
Tru Washington played a big role in leading the University of New Mexico basketball team to a 99-68 rout of Texas Southern. It was the Lobos' final pre-Thanksgiving tuneup before heading to California for its annual multi-team nonconference appearance.
UNM president Garnett Stokes announced Sunday the school has appointed University of Texas athletics administrator Fernando Lovo as its new sports boss. He鈥檒l officially take over Dec. 1, replacing Eddie Nu帽ez.
Dexter head coach Sonny Duran considered going for the touchdown from the Robertson 15-yard line, but on a day in which his best laid plans had gone awry, he chose the less conventional route.
The Sundevils (9-4) wrapped up a historic season with nine wins and two victories in the playoffs 鈥 a program first.
Combined, Gonzales brothers James III, Sebastian, Matthew, Jesse James and Nathaniel were a part of two state championship teams, four runners-ups and five district champions.
The New Mexico Highlands University Cowboys were done with drama Saturday afternoon.
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