Sports Sidelines

Two freshmen, Anjelia Martinez in the 107-pound weight class and Theresa Valencia in the 132, competed for the Tigers in the regional tournament but didn't place.

Valencia won two matches — one against Gallup’s Hailey Yazzie in the first round of the championship bracket with fall a minute and a half in the first period. After a loss to Aztec’s Cheyenne Yellow (17–0 tech fall), Valencia took down Kylei Sanchez of Wingate in less than a minute. However, Valencia would face her exit against Capital’s Madelyn Rodriguez in the third consolation round.

Taos girls wrestling head coach AnnaLiz Duran said Martinez and Valencia showed significant improvement in just a short time with the program.

“They just need more work inside of the practice room. They have the heart and dedication to be successful,” Duran said. “[For Anjelia] it’s hard to go out and perform as a first-year wrestler. For Valencia, it’s her third year, and this is her best year yet. We just need more time in practice.”

Questa hosts Peñasco

Questa High School's varsity basketball teams hosted the Peñasco Panthers boys and girls teams Thursday (Feb. 6), with the Ladycats coming away with the win 57–39 and the Panthers boys beating their hosts with a 54–41 victory.

In the boys game, the hosting Wildcats kept things close and were down by just 5 points in the first quarter. However, Questa struggled to score in the second and third quarters, mustering just 11 in those quarters combined. Questa outscored Peñasco in the fourth quarter with a 20-point scoring output, but the Panther’s groundwork in the game gave them the foundation to win.

The Ladycats had a strong first half while holding the Lady Panthers to 15 points, compared to Questa’s 30. The Peñasco squad played better offensively in the third quarter, but the Ladycats outscored them 27–24 in the latter half. Questa junior Alyse Lovato led the way for the Ladycats with 16 points, followed by senior Kamryn Cardenas with 13 points, senior Alexis Brown with 12 and Aliyah Santistevan with 7 for the night.

The Questa teams played the tough Mesa Vista Trojans at home on Tuesday (Feb. 11), but results for that game were unavailable during press time.

This evening, Thursday (Feb. 13), Questa's teams will travel to Mora High School, with the girls starting at 5:30 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m. On Feb. 18, Questa will host their final home game of the season against McCurdy, with the girls game starting at 6 p.m. and the boys at 7:30 p.m. Questa’s final match will be at Peñasco on Feb. 22. The girls’ game begins at 1 p.m. and the boys’ tip-off is at 2:30 p.m.

Peñasco will host McCurdy High this evening, with girls’ tip-off at 5 p.m. and the boys at 6:30 p.m. 

Then on Saturday (Feb. 15), the Panthers will host the Escalante Lobos at 1 p.m. for the girls and 2:30 p.m. for the boys. Next Tuesday Tuesday (Feb. 18) the Panthers will travel to Lobos’ territory, with the girls starting at 5:30 and the boys game beginning at 7 p.m. Peñasco’s penultimate match of the season will be against the Mesa Vista teams on Thursday (Feb. 2), with the girls game starting at 6 p.m. and the boys at 7:30 p.m.

Taos Youth Hockey in Colorado and Los Alamos

The Taos Youth Hockey League will travel to Highlands Ranch, Colorado, this President’s Day Weekend for the 25th Annual Mile High Meltdown in Colorado from Friday through Monday (Feb. 15–17) hosted by Arapahoe Youth Hockey.

The 12U and 10U teams under head coach Jesse Cook will travel to the city south of Denver to play four teams: Northern Colorado Youth Hockey, Highland Hills, Arapahoe and a team from Cheyenne, Wyoming. The top teams will have a chance to play in the semifinals and the championships.

Under head coach Mark Richert, the 14U team had not played together all season due to the Taos Youth and Family Center fire but is now headed to the Mile High Meltdown to get on the ice once again. Nine Taos athletes will participate, including four players from Santa Fe and Los Alamos. They will face Norther Colorado, Highland Hills and two Arapahoe teams. Seniors Rocket Holmes, Hayden Greywolf and sophomore Kanoa Weinman will play with the Santa Fe Blue Jackets in the Colorado tournament as well.

The 8-and-under players led by coach Gunnar Meiers will play four games at the Season End Jamboree tournament in Los Alamos.

Ridge-A-Thon Feb. 21–22

Next week (Feb. 21–22) Taos Ski Valley will host the Ben Myers Ridge-A-Thon, which benefits the Emergency Medicine Fund at Taos Community Foundation. The event first started in 1996 and will be hosting its 29th annual event.

In its 28 years, the event has raised over $1 million in donations. The Ridge-A-Thon is named after Ben “Ben Air” Myers, a local extreme skier who was diagnosed with cancer at age 26 and eventually died from the disease. His friends kept the Ridge-A-Thon going to commemorate Myers and raise funds to support care and safety for other snowsports enthusiasts.

Tigers beat Moriarty

After a six-day break from games, the Taos High School varsity boys basketball team took down the hosting Moriarty Pintos on Monday (Feb. 10) with a final score of 71-47.

The game started slow for the roaming Tigers with a lackluster 9 points to the Pinto’s 10. Once the first quarter finished, the Tigers scored at a higher clip against their opponent and outscored the Pintos for the rest of the game. Taos put up 62 points in three quarters compared to Moriarty’s 37.

The win against the Pintos put the Taos High basketball team even for district at 2-2, with an overall record of 12-9. Tonight (Feb. 13), the Pojoaque Valley Elks will host the Tigers at 7 p.m. and on Saturday (Feb. 15), the Tigers are hosting the Moriarty Pintos for their last district meeting of the season with a 7 p.m. start. On Feb. 18, it is the Los Alamos Hilltoppers’ turn to host the Tigers and tip-off starts at 7 p.m. and the Tigers will come back home on Feb. 21 to take on Española Valley at 7 p.m.