North-South games create flurry of action

Albuquerque, and to some extent Las Cruces, was a busy place this weekend, with North-South All-Star games taking place in five different sports.

Here’s a look at some of the action that took place in the games, which are limited to seniors from across New Mexico.

Baseball

Class 5A/6A: In Las Cruces, the North claimed its third-consecutive series, taking Friday’s Game 1 8-0 and the clincher in Game 2, 5-4, after falling behind 4-3 in the sixth.

The South won Game 3 13-8.

Local players selected for the contest were the Clovis trio of Colson Faircloth, Connor Langrell and Jace Piepkorn. Clovis’ representatives played for the North because of the Wildcats’ inclusion in the northern District 2-6A.

Class 1A-4A: After a pair of nailbiters Friday and Saturday, the South busted out their whooping sticks and posted a 17-2 Game 3 win to take the series. Local players came up big during a four-run fifth, with Josiah Lucero hitting a two-run single and Nathan Phipps a two-run double in a four-run fourth inning.

Ben Crist got the Game 3 win, allowing two unearned runs in three innings of work.

The South took Friday’s opener 4-3, with Lucero striking out five in four innings for a no-decision. The North took Game 2 1-0, only allowing one South hit.

In all, seven local players were selected for the South team — Joel Legarda and Lucero of Portales; Crist, Brayden Wines and Nathan Phipps of Texico; Aaron Jasso of Dora and Conner Martin of Floyd

Basketball, girls

Class 5A/6A: The North took a 67-65 victory Friday night at Albuquerque High School. Teya Morris of Clovis was the only area selection for the North.

Class 3A/4A: The South, loaded with local talent, spent the final 10 minutes with a running clock in a 98-57 victory.

Local selections were Mackenzie Haakma and Maryelle Dickerman of Texico and Zamorye Cox, Kelly Fraze and Lindsay Blakey of Portales. Cox was named most outstanding player.

Class 1A/2A: The South claimed a 78-46 victory, with Jaden Isler coaching girls one final time. Isler, recently named the boys basketball coach at Clovis, coached Elida to four consecutive girls titles in 1A.

Local selections included Brenna Bates of Dora, Kasyn Creighton and Lacy Ferguson of Elida and Landry Widner of Melrose.

Basketball, boys

Class 5A/6A: Results from the 8 p.m. game at Albuquerque High School were not available at press time. Jakeem Wynn of Clovis was selected for the North squad.

Class 3A/4A: The North took the mid-sized game by a 92-90 final. Nathan Phipps of Texico and Braden Bridges of Portales were selected to the South squad.

Class 1A/2A: The South edged the North 88-85 to open a tripleheader at Albuquerque High School. Local players selected were Lucas Whitehead of Grady and Blake DeVaney, Sterling Sena and Jordan Jasso of Melrose. The team was coached by Melrose’s Kevin Lackey.

Football

Class 5A/6A: The North defeated the South 31-27 to finish off a sweep of three Friday games at Community Stadium.

Local selections were Austin Fuentes and Stevin Lindsay of Clovis for the North.

Class 3A/4A: The North took a 20-19 victory over the South.

There were five local selections, all Portales — Braden Bridges, Enrique Cabral, Tyrese Dawson, Isaac Gomez and Logan McDaniel.

Class 2A/Eight-Man/Six-Man: The North, largely filled with Escalante (nine) and Fort Sumner (five) selections, took a 14-0 win over the South with Fort Sumner’s Brad Holland coaching.

Local selections for the South included Zac Dewbre and Hayden Skinner of Dora, Kaull Burton of Elida and four from Melrose — Blake DeVaney, Carson Fraze, Jordan Jasso and Sterling Sena.

Volleyball

Class 5A/6A: The South took a 3-0 win to round out Thursday’s tripleheader at La Cueva High School. Clovis selections, part of the North squad, were Lexi Cole and Kyli Osborn.

Class 3A/4A: The North claimed a 3-0 win, with Sandia Prep accounting for a third of the roster.

The South team selections included Maryelle Dickerman and Kaylee Miller of Texico, and the Portales trio of Sarah Blaeser, Zamorye Cox and Lindsay Blakey.

Class 1A/2A: The North took the small-school game 3-1. Local athletes selected, all for the South, were Kasyn Creighton and Lacy Ferguson of Elida and LaKasey Mondragon and Landry Widner of Melrose.

Softball

Class 1A-4A: The South won the three-game series opener 7-1 on Friday. No other information was available from the New Mexico High School Coaches Association at press time.

Portales’ Raquel Herrera-Moreno, Devyn Lopez and Kimberlie Hay were selected for the South team.