Peerman's Power Rankings: 10 best things in New Mexico sports this week (March 10)

Mar. 10—Welcome to Peerman's Power Rankings (PPR), the 10 athletes, teams and story lines that have Journal sports editor Lucas Peerman's attention. Look for a new power rankings list every Sunday.

Have a suggestion, complaint or compliment? Email lpeerman@abqjournal.com or contact me on X @LucasPeerman.

10. The Black and Yellow

New Mexico United revamped its roster in the offseason — for the better, it seems. Last year, United played hard and smart, but winning was a grind, never a given. Fun, but flawed. This year, NMU is bigger on the back line and its attack more polished. Dauntless, and dominating. The more than 11,000 fans who showed up to see United beat Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 1-0 in the season opener liked what they saw — but 90 minutes is a small sample size. Will Game 1 be a true representation or an aberration?

9. New Mexico baseball

The Lobos had a historic day at the plate on Saturday, obliterating UNLV 31-15, matching the program record for runs scored in a game. UNM recorded 50 at-bats, 29 hits and 28 RBIs — and Will Asby brought home nine runs by himself, the second most RBIs by a player in a single game in program history. The Lobos swept the Running Rebels and are now 10-6 overall and 3-0 in the Mountain West.

8. Habtom Samuel

The Mountain West's top long-distance runner recording a fourth-place finish in the men's 3,000 meters and a seventh-place finish in the men's 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend somehow feels like a letdown. Doesn't the UNM freshman win every race he enters? Sure seems like he has in what's so far been a phenomenal first year. Samuel did earn All-America honors for the top-eight finishes in the indoor track venue. Now, the racing shifts outdoors. And you know what Samuel thinks about that? "I'm really good in outdoors," he told the Journal a couple week ago. "Better than indoors."

7. Zuni girls basketball

The first round of the New Mexico state basketball tournament features 80 games across 10 classes over two days. Among the best games was No. 8 Zuni's 41-40 dramatic win over No. 8 Sandia Prep in Class 3A girls. Takai Martinez nailed a three-pointer with 8.3 seconds to go to lift the Thunderbirds in the quarterfinals, where they'll play No. 1 Tohatchi at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in the Rio Rancho Events Center. Expect a huge crowd as these district rivals have extremely loyal and loud fan bases.

6. Class 1A girls basketball

How dominant have the Roy/Mosquero girls been in the regular season? No New Mexico team was within 10 points of the Lady Blue when the final buzzer sounded (the exception being Bloomfield, one of the top 4A squads in the state and the only team to beat 24-1 Roy/Mosquero). How mediocre have the Animas girls been in the regular season? Going into Friday's first round of the state tournament, the Panthers were 13-13, had scored 1,032 points and had allowed 1,033 points on the season. Animas sneaked into the tournament as the 16th seed and their reward was travelling more than 500 miles (one way) to Roy to ostensibly get destroyed by the most dominant team in their class. The final score? Roy/Mosquero 41, Animas 38. An outstanding showing from the Panthers. Next up for the Lady Blue is a date with 6-foot-6 Harper Dunn and the ninth-seeded Corona/Vaughn Cardinals in the quarterfinals. Tip-off is 8 a.m. Wednesday at Bernalillo High. PPR will be watching.

5. Sandia boys basketball

The 14th-seeded Matadors pulled off the upset of the first round in handing No. 3 Cleveland (a championship contender) an early exit. In the quarterfinals, No. 11 Albuquerque High awaits after the Bulldogs went on the road and tamed No. 6 Clovis. Also, on that side of the bracket are a No. 7 Los Lunas team that needed overtime to dispatch of No. 10 Alamogordo and a second-seeded Organ Mountain squad that struggled more than it should have in a nine-point win over No. 15 Roswell. Point being? It wouldn't shock PPR if Volcano Vista and Sandia meet again in a battle for the Blue Trophy.

4. Class 4A boys basketball

PPR wouldn't be surprised if any one of the top six teams in this class came home with the title. How tight is the top of this class? Even the New Mexico Activities Association couldn't figure out who should be ranked No. 1, having to swap Highland (now. No. 1) and Valley (now No. 2) after the brackets were released due to the NMAA's failure to adhere to its own seeding guidelines the first go-round. No. 3 Hope Christian, No. 4 Albuquerque Academy, No. 5 St. Pius and, yes, even No. 6 Artesia are all contenders. Class 4A boys is no doubt the Mountain West of New Mexico high school basketball.

3. Mountain West men's basketball

Speaking of peak performance, what more can PPR say about how deliciously good Mountain West men's basketball has been this season? Every. Game. Comes. Down. To. The. Wire. But let's focus on the UNM men's basketball team. The Lobos' best way to break a decade-long NCAA Tournament drought is to win its conference tournament. In the first round, No. 6 UNM has a matchup against last-ranked Air Force. Easy-peasy, right? The winner advances to play No. 3 Boise State, which swept the Lobos in the regular season. Eh, it's hard to beat a team three times, right? With a win, the Lobos would play in the semifinals, likely against No. 2 Nevada, whom the Lobos swept. Eh, it's easy to beat a team three times, right? A MWC finals opponent could be No. 1 Utah State (best team in the regular season), No. 4 UNLV (playing on its home court), No. 5 San Diego State (last season's national runner-up) or No. 7 Colorado State (probably not, but who knows?). Are. You. Kidding. Me? This year's MWC tourney should have been broadcast on NBC because it's must-watch TV.

2. Lyron Bennett

Eastern New Mexico men's basketball claimed its first ever Lone Star Conference tournament championship on Bennett's 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, giving the Greyhounds a 91-88 victory over Lubbock Christian on Sunday. The Chaps had a shot to take the lead late, but missed a contested layup. The Greyhounds' Mario Whitley grabbed the rebound with 5 seconds to go. Whitley threw an outlet pass to Bennett, who caught the ball just beyond LCU's three-point line, took two dribbles and launched a 30-footer as he floated toward the basket. Nothing but net. With the win, the Greyhounds earn a spot in the Division II NCAA Tournament, which gets under way later this week.

1. UNM women's basketball

This year's UNM women's team has been a blast to watch. Picked sixth in the preseason, the Lobos exceeded expectations on their way to a 21-10 record and a second seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. On Sunday, the conference announced its all-conference teams and individual awards and UNM showed well. Guard Nyah Wilson was named Newcomer of the year, guard Aniyah Augmon was selected Defensive Player of the Year and coach Mike Bradbury garnered Coach of the Year. While Wilson and Augmon, who each landed on the All-Mountain West team as well, received the accolades, this team is veritably starless. Viané Cumber, Paula Reus and Charlotte Kohl have all dominated games this season. Who'll step up in MW tournament play? PPR is excited to find out.

Honorable mention

UNM women's tennis: With a 4-2 win over in-state rival New Mexico State on Sunday, the Lobos improved to 11-2 on the season. Mountain West Conference play begins Friday.

New Mexico Ice Wolves (Tier III): The North American 3 Hockey League South Division champs are formidable, skating to a 40-7-2 record in the regular season. The puck drops Thursday at Outpost Ice Arenas for a best-of-three series against Louisiana Drillers with the winner advancing in the Fraser Cup Playoffs.

New Mexico Junior College women: The Thunderbirds wrapped up the regular season with a 25-5 record, including 13-1 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference to win its conference for a ninth time. The team is ranked ninth nationally heading into postseason play this week.

End of the bench

The egregious no call at the end of the New Mexico-Utah State game soured what was an otherwise fantastic competition between two college basketball heavyweights. UNM's Jaelen House, with one free throw to shoot and his team down two points with 2.8 seconds to go, tried to intentionally miss the freebie. He launched the ball straight toward the basket and it caromed off the backboard without touching the rim. What should have happened next: The officials blow the whistle, rule the ball dead (because the missed free throw didn't hit rim) and Utah State gets possession. What did happen next: Players momentarily stop, expecting a whistle that never comes, and time expires. Mike Littlewood, the lead official, explained: "We did not notice on the court that the ball did not hit the rim, so we let play continue until the game clock expired." Did the referees' blunder decide the game? Probably not. But you know who did notice the ball didn't hit the rim? The 10 players on the court, the dozens of coaches and bench players on the sidelines, the thousands of fans in the arena and then tens of thousands more watching at home. This one's hard to swallow, unless of course, you had a whistle in your mouth.