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ALBUQUERQUE — The date Jesse James Gonzales has had circled on the calendar is finally here.
And he's got the matchup he wanted.
As the starting quarterback on Robertson's football team and the starting point guard in basketball, he has a long, high-profile history with St. Michael's. From regular season to the playoffs, the path to a championship always seems to have a St. Michael's speed bump along the way.
"It's ugly," Gonzales said after securing a third trip to the finals against St. Michael's in the last four years.
He scored 14 points in Friday's Class 3A semifinal in The Pit, setting up a Saturday showdown against the Horsemen after a 64-35 rout of Santa Fe Indian School in The Pit.
"We've been playing in title games since I've been in high school," Gonzales said. "We've seen them twice in football and twice in basketball. I want it bad."
For the briefest of moments it looked like SFIS was going to crash that Cardinals-Horsemen party. The Braves (19-11) raced to an 11-2 lead five minutes into the game, getting five of those points from Dontrey Callado.
His transition 3-pointer from the wing brought the largely pro-SFIS crowd to its feet. Everything the did worked perfectly.
"What they did really well is they actually, instead of taking the cut over the top, they had a lot of back cuts at the beginning," said Robertson coach Adam Bustos. "That took us by surprise."
Once the Cardinals adjusted, it was lights out. A Michael Marr 3-pointer started an avalanche of offense for the remainder of the half. That bucket allowed Robertson to go on a 30-6 run and open a 15-point lead at halftime.
The Cardinals did it with transition points, half-court sets, defensive maneuvering and a whole lot of down and dirty effort.
George Smith finished with 14 points and Nathaniel Gonzales had 13. Cardinals 6-foot-5 center Nathan Gonzales pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, scored nine points and had two blocked shots.
The Cardinals were hitting their 3s and forcing the Braves to miss theirs. SFIS missed 14 of their 17 tries from distance, and each miss seemed to launch a transition bucket for the Cardinals.
The game was never in doubt after the first quarter as Robertson doubled SFIS's point total in the third quarter. The Braves shot just 23% for the game. They were only 5-for-37 from the field after a somewhat productive first quarter.
"In our losses we haven't shot the rock very well," said SFIS coach Jason Abeyta. "Then we started falling in love with the 3-point shot. It never came for us today. Our shooting percentage was terrible."
Callado had a team-high 12 for SFIS. His brother, Kenyen, added 10 to go with a game-high five assists and eight rebounds. No one else had more than four points.
By the time the third quarter wound to a close, the talk was already about another St. Michael's-Robertson showdown. Seeded No. 1, with Robertson No. 2, the Horsemen won the first meeting with the Cardinals. The redbirds took the other two, both of them in Santa Fe.
When it comes to the rivalry, Nathaniel Gonzales said there are no secrets.
"We know what they run, they know what we run and it's going to be a dog fight," he said. "Just need to go out and play."
Abeyta was asked who he'd pick in Saturday's title game. His team played seven combined games against the Horsemen and Cardinals, making him as much of an expert on District 2-3A supremacy as anyone in the state.
"No, I'm not going to do that," he said with a laugh. "We've seen them both so much that, honestly, when the brackets came out, I was hoping I didn't have to play a district opponent in the first or second round. We get tired of seeing each other."
NOTES
Robertson shot 50% from the field and only had 10 turnovers. The Cardinals starters combined to score 53 of the team's 64 points. ... Smith had 12 of his 14 points in the second half. ... The Cardinals and Horsemen split their previous two championship meetings, and this is the fourth straight trip to the finals for Robertson (lost to Navajo Prep last year).
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And he's got the matchup he wanted.
As the starting quarterback on Robertson's football team and the starting point guard in basketball, he has a long, high-profile history with St. Michael's. From regular season to the playoffs, the path to a championship always seems to have a St. Michael's speed bump along the way.
"It's ugly," Gonzales said after securing a third trip to the finals against St. Michael's in the last four years.
He scored 14 points in Friday's Class 3A semifinal in The Pit, setting up a Saturday showdown against the Horsemen after a 64-35 rout of Santa Fe Indian School in The Pit.
"We've been playing in title games since I've been in high school," Gonzales said. "We've seen them twice in football and twice in basketball. I want it bad."
For the briefest of moments it looked like SFIS was going to crash that Cardinals-Horsemen party. The Braves (19-11) raced to an 11-2 lead five minutes into the game, getting five of those points from Dontrey Callado.
His transition 3-pointer from the wing brought the largely pro-SFIS crowd to its feet. Everything the did worked perfectly.
"What they did really well is they actually, instead of taking the cut over the top, they had a lot of back cuts at the beginning," said Robertson coach Adam Bustos. "That took us by surprise."
Once the Cardinals adjusted, it was lights out. A Michael Marr 3-pointer started an avalanche of offense for the remainder of the half. That bucket allowed Robertson to go on a 30-6 run and open a 15-point lead at halftime.
The Cardinals did it with transition points, half-court sets, defensive maneuvering and a whole lot of down and dirty effort.
George Smith finished with 14 points and Nathaniel Gonzales had 13. Cardinals 6-foot-5 center Nathan Gonzales pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, scored nine points and had two blocked shots.
The Cardinals were hitting their 3s and forcing the Braves to miss theirs. SFIS missed 14 of their 17 tries from distance, and each miss seemed to launch a transition bucket for the Cardinals.
The game was never in doubt after the first quarter as Robertson doubled SFIS's point total in the third quarter. The Braves shot just 23% for the game. They were only 5-for-37 from the field after a somewhat productive first quarter.
"In our losses we haven't shot the rock very well," said SFIS coach Jason Abeyta. "Then we started falling in love with the 3-point shot. It never came for us today. Our shooting percentage was terrible."
Callado had a team-high 12 for SFIS. His brother, Kenyen, added 10 to go with a game-high five assists and eight rebounds. No one else had more than four points.
By the time the third quarter wound to a close, the talk was already about another St. Michael's-Robertson showdown. Seeded No. 1, with Robertson No. 2, the Horsemen won the first meeting with the Cardinals. The redbirds took the other two, both of them in Santa Fe.
When it comes to the rivalry, Nathaniel Gonzales said there are no secrets.
"We know what they run, they know what we run and it's going to be a dog fight," he said. "Just need to go out and play."
Abeyta was asked who he'd pick in Saturday's title game. His team played seven combined games against the Horsemen and Cardinals, making him as much of an expert on District 2-3A supremacy as anyone in the state.
"No, I'm not going to do that," he said with a laugh. "We've seen them both so much that, honestly, when the brackets came out, I was hoping I didn't have to play a district opponent in the first or second round. We get tired of seeing each other."
NOTES
Robertson shot 50% from the field and only had 10 turnovers. The Cardinals starters combined to score 53 of the team's 64 points. ... Smith had 12 of his 14 points in the second half. ... The Cardinals and Horsemen split their previous two championship meetings, and this is the fourth straight trip to the finals for Robertson (lost to Navajo Prep last year).
Continue reading...
