In first postseason appearance, ATC gets No. 2 seed in boys Class 2A State Tournament
Feb. 26—The Academy for Technology and the Classics boys basketball team knew it was going to be a good Sunday.
It just didn't know how good it would get.
ATC got a pleasant surprise after the New Mexico Activities Association released its boys basketball brackets for all five classes. Minutes after earning the second seed in the Class 2A bracket — its first postseason berth in its 11-year history — the Phoenix learned Elias Bernardino, the father of junior wing Julian Bernardino, won the NMAA's state tournament package.
So, dad gets Lobo Level seating for the week of the state tournament in The Pit, along with two passes to "Championship Saturday."
It was a good day for Northern New Mexico overall, as St. Michael's (in 3A) and Pecos (2A) nabbed the top seed in their respective classes to go with ATC's achievement. Meanwhile, Capital made its return to the postseason after a three-year absence by snaring the 16th and final spot in the 5A bracket.
The Jaguars' reward? A road game to Albuquerque against defending champion Volcano Vista Saturday.
Santa Fe High is the 13th seed and gets No. 4 Albuquerque West Mesa in a 5A opening-round battle.
As for ATC, it continues to break barriers in a season in which it set a school record for victories (23-6), won its first district regular-season and tournament titles and earned its first trip to the state tournament.
Head coach Bobby Romero, who guided the Española Valley girls team to the 4A quarterfinals in 2018, feels this team can do something special. The first step toward that comes in an opening round home game against No. 15 Tatum.
All boys games will be played Saturday, with start times to be determined as of Monday.
"We just gotta trust the process," Romero said. "The past couple of years, I saw this coming to fruition, as long as we grew as a family and put the 'we' before 'me.' They've bought into it and are trusting the coaches and what we're trying to do and continue to work hard."
St. Michael's earned its second top seed in the past four tournaments, having done it in 2019. Horsemen head coach Gerard Garcia said he expected nothing less than a top-two seed, but hedged at thinking this team would be the No. 1. His team will take on Tucumcari in Perez-Shelley Gymnasium Saturday at 6 p.m.
Garcia said the goal is to continue to work hard as it looks to extend its 18-game winning streak.
"Being a number-one seed is a lot of work," Garcia said. "I tell the guys about [when No. 16 seed University of Maryland-Baltimore County beat No. 1 seed Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament], so you have to continue to play the game. We have to keep that intensity going and have the kids continue to be coachable."
In 4A, District 2-4A champion Taos collected the seventh seed and will take on No. 10 Portales. Pojoaque Valley squeezed in as the 15th seed and will head to Albuquerque to take on defending champion Highland.
The rest of the 3A field saw Las Vegas Robertson nab the three seed and get District 2-3A foe Santa Fe Prep, the 14th seed, for its first-round game. Santa Fe Indian School is No. 7 and takes on No. 10 Hot Springs at home. No. 12 West Las Vegas will travel to Crownpoint to take on the No. 5 Eagles.
Pecos will play No. 16 McCurdy in the 2A bracket in a rematch of a Dec. 20 game won by the Panthers in convincing fashion, 81-43. Escalante also gets a rematch, as the sixth-seeded Lobos play No. 11 Mesa Vista, which they beat 69-58 in the 2-2A championship game Saturday.
