Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • 91

I ECR ON TAP The Moriarty High girls basketball team hosts the annual Alice King Tournament starting at today. Section Thursday December 11, 2003 TIM MENICUTCII MANZAKO 0-3 AT INViTATIOMAL SIP ORTS Wolves, Bears Both Routed Pintos Go Other Way, Defeating Espanola Mountain View Sports Memories Send Chills fit n. JIM THOMPSONTELEGRAPH Manzano's Rodney Ferguson puts up a shot against Andrew Sleefe of St. Plus in the Monarchs' opening game of the Albuquerque Academy Invitational on Dec. 4.

The young Manzano team couldn't overcome youthful mistakes and dropped all three games in the tournament. Bv Tim Menicutch Mountain View Telegraph This is going to take some getting used to. The Moriarty High boys basketball team, on the short end of many a lopsided loss over the past several seasons, learned about life at the other end of the equation. The Pintos hammered visiting Espanola Valley 67-36 on Tuesday night. "It was a good win over a team that beat us last year," said Moriarty coach Randy Lykins, who failed to set the world on fire in his first season at the helm last year when the Pintos struggled to a 6-18 record.

"Anytime you do that, you're improving." From a one-game standpoint, Moriarty's effort far exceeded mere improvement. It was the Pintos' most convincing victory in at least four seasons. Moriarty (2-2) put the pedal to the metal seconds after big senior post Kyle Blanks easily controlled the opening tip. Jordan George knocked down a three-pointer from the corner on the first possession and the Pintos never trailed. In fact, the Pintos not only led wire-to-wire, they turned the game into a rout before the horn sounded to end the first half.

"The guys are getting to where they understand the type of ball I want to play," said Lykins. "We see the court better and make moves away from the ball. The guards are seeing passes they never even knew existed." Moriarty's second basket of the night fit Lykins' description to a tee. Blanks rotated his burly 6-foot, 6-inch, 280-pound body to the low post and Josh Weiss rifled a pass inside. Blanks, who tallied team-high totals with 13 points and 11 rebounds, converted the easy layup.

Monairchis roegM Bowe at Toemey y-; iy Ill Bulk of pressure placed on Rodney Ferguson during three games See T'WOLVES on PAGE B2 p- i tft it Texas school. But the remainder of the Manzano players offered little support. Except for sharpshooter Paul Gabaldon's 11 points, the Monarchs did not have another player score more than five. "I'm not sure how that kind of start is going to affect us," said Brown. "It depends on how we handle it.

But it's December, not February. We're not going to quit. We just need to get better. We're a young team, and we need to learn how to play." Manzano's only lead of the game came in the opening minutes when Ferguson bulled inside for a layup, Gabaldon drove the middle for a basket and 6-3 sophomore Chanselor Bell knifed baseline for another easy bucket to put the Monarchs up 6-2. The Rebels countered by going on a 13-2 run to close out the first quarter and never led by fewer than five points the rest of the way.

Manzano had no answer for Tas-cosa's lethal combination of strong inside and outside play. In their decisive early surge, the Rebels scored three field goals in the paint and two more from the See MONARCHS on PAGE B2 I glanced out the window TUesday morning and gri-' maced. A dusting of snow covered the front yard, and a winter wind whipped wickedly through the treesA cold shiver ran through my body. I retreated to the corner of the living room, my own personal comfort zone, in front of the computer screen where the rhythmic clicking of the keyboard gently lifts sagging spirits. The prospect of a long, hard winter was suddenly hitting home with all the subtleness of a blizzard.

I shuddered at the thought. The heater in the kitchen purred relentlessly, trying valiantly to keep the temperature at a moderate 68. degrees. I saw drifting out of the vent and a PNM bill with an extra figure on the front end. Oh, the woeful winter.

At least, I reasoned to myself, there was plenty of high school basketball to watch. I grabbed my briefcase and extracted the schedules for the local teams, searching for a key matchup, something to look forward to on this wretched winter-like morning. Big mistake. All the scores of previous games are kerjt on those schedules. This was not the uplifting experience I was hoping it would be.

On top of the pile, a sketch of a burly bear wandered from the right corner of the piece of paper, frozen in time maybe by the chilling temperatures of the December morning. The bear seemed in position to gobble up the first line of the Estancia High boys basketball schedule. Too bad he couldn't eliminate it into his paper-thin digestive tract. It read Tularosa 89, Estancia 21. If ever a score needed to be recycled into a deep corner of the woods by a bear responding to nature, this was the one.

Did I mention this winter could be long? I meant interminable. What should I happen upon next in my random stack of paper? None other than the East Mountain High girls schedule. At first glance, this wasn't so bad. The Lady Timberwolves had won their first two games by healthy margins. I should've stopped looking right there.

The next line ruined the moment: McCurdy 52, East Mountain 7. I did a double-take at the heading on the paper. I had to make sure I wasn't mistakenly glancing at the Moriarty High football schedule from the fall. No, it was the East Mountain girls. A final tally of 7 isn't even going to win many softball games in the spring.

I grew restless and started thumbing through the schedules. Manzano boys off to an 0-3 start. Next please. East Mountain boys defeated 87-31 by McCurdy. No warmth generated there.

Frustrated, I put the schedules neatly back into the briefcase. I walked back to the window and looked out. The wind tapped at the front door screen asking to be let in. I told the wind not to bother to come in here. It's just as cold as it is out there.

Tim Menicutch can be reached by phone at 823-7104 of by enail at By Tim Menicutch Mountain View Telegraph The young Manzano High boys basketball team went three-up, three-down in last week's season-opening Albuquerque Academy Invitational. At least the Monarchs went down swinging. Unable to overcome a rash of youthful mistakes, hard-trying Manzano lost for the third time in as many days when Amarillo Tas-cosa pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 66-50 victory in Saturday's seventh-place contest. "There's not much to say really when you start 0-3," Manzano coach Greg Brown said. Say this for certain: The Monarchs need to find another consistent scoring threat besides 6-foot senior Rodney Ferguson.

On Saturday, Ferguson knocked down 24 points and accounted for nearly 50 percent of Manzano's offense working against a tall Tas-cosa team that averages 6-4 across the front line. 7 0 W7 Manzano's Paul Gabaldon guards Andrew Duran of St. Pius in last week's matchup In the Albuquerque Academy Invitational. Ferguson, who scored 27 in a tourney-opening loss to St. Pius on Dec.

4, relied on superior quickness six steals and steadfast determination five offensive rebounds to outduel an array of big men from the DREW MCDANIELTELEGRAPH Moriarty's Jeff Anaya glides to the hoop past Espanola Valley's Ryan Martinez in Tuesday's home victory at Moriarty. Manzano Sneaks Up on Academy Monarchs, Bears, Pintos Snag Wins vided Manzano's final margin of victory. Manzano swept the final four matches of the night, starting at 160 pounds when sophomore Vincent Walthers" blanked senior David Ketai 4-0. Manzano junior Sean DeBuck followed with a first-round pin of senior Nick Lopez at 171 pounds, and sophomore Brandon Pollard, wrestling in his first varsity match, encored with a third-round pin junior Jack Galagan in the 189-pound bout. Manzano's other victory came in the 130-pound division when promising freshman Eric Moore pinned senior Noah Syme at 2:51.

In a dual-meet held Dec. 3, visiting Valley edged Manzano 34-21. The Monarchs were strong in the upper weight classes, winning all four matches at 160 pounds or heavier. Walthers scored a tight 7-6 decision against senior Adam Lovato in the 160-pound weight class and DeBuck followed with a pin of senior Ray Gutierrez at 2:48. After a double-forfeit at 189, Hanna defeated senior John Hambrick by injury default and heavyweight senior Alex Lucero closed out the Manzano surge by pinning senior Greg Prudencio at 2:19.

Moore put up a valiant effort against senior Andy Barela, second at the state finals last season, before suffering a third-round pin. Manzano returns to action Friday at the Las Cruces Tournament. By Tim Menicutch Mountain View Telegraph The Manzano High wrestling team posted its initial dual-meet triumph of the season in a thrilling 39-28 come-from-behind victory over host Albuquerque Academy on Tuesday night. "It was awesome, very exciting," said Manzano coach David Romero. With his team trailing 28-27, Manzano senior Jonathan Hanna pinned senior Clay Sheppard in the third round of the 215-pound match for the winning points.

"The move that finished off the match was a double-grapevine with a half-Nelson," said Romero. Academy forfeited the heavyweight bout and pro Autumn Blue Eyes scored six of her 11 points in the final quarter. "Autumn hit some key shots in the fourth quarter that really helped us out," Funk said. Clayton, a 6-foot sophomore, scored 20 points to lead the Lady Monarchs and was named to the all-tournament team. The third-place finish was Manzano's best placing at the APS Tourney since 2000.

"This team has a really good attitude and they work hard in practice," said Funk. "And that's more than half the battle. It's probably about 80 percent of the battle." Manzano led 23-16 at half-time before Highland went on Set BEARS on PAGE B2 By Tim Menicutch Mountain View Telegraph Freshman Lindsi Polosky hit a short jump shot with seven seconds remaining to lift the Manzano High girls basketball team to a 58-57 victory over Highland in the third-place game of the APS East Tournament on Saturday at Highland. "We were rooking to go inside, but they double-teamed (post) Satiria (Clayton)," said Manzano coach Mandy Funk, explaining the game-winning shot. "Lindsi drove the middle, and they never guarded her, and she hit the shot" Manzano (2-2) trailed by eight points in the fourth quarter before putting together the game-winning rally.

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