Peerman's Power Rankings: 10 best things in New Mexico sports this week (Feb. 18)

Feb. 18—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. UNM women's basketball

The Lobos had the weekend off and moved up in the Mountain West standings. How'd that happen? On Saturday, Wyoming lost at Colorado State and Boise State fell at Nevada. The results allowed idle UNM (9-4 MWC) to move into a second-place tie with Wyoming (9-4). Boise State and Nevada (both 8-5) are one game back. This coming week, however, is no picnic as the Lobos play at Boise State on Wednesday and at Wyoming on Saturday. This is the most crucial week thus far for the UNM women's team.

9. Jake Angier

New Mexico State's new head baseball coach (and in 2023 named one of Baseball America's top 50 coaches to watch after helping lead Oregon to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances as the Ducks' pitching coach) has the inspired Aggies off to a 2-1 start. If they beat South Dakota State at the 'Skew (Presley Askew Field) on Monday, it'll be 3-1 for Angier over his alma mater. Take a look at the size of the crowd that showed up Sunday (though the Aggies gave up five runs in the ninth and lost 8-5). The Jackrabbits, who reached the Summit League championship game last year, stay in New Mexico for a three-game series Thursday-Saturday against UNM in the Lobos' home opener.

8. House vs. The Show

This matchup between San Diego State's student cheering section and the Lobos' All-Mountain West-level guard gets on PPR for pure entertainment value. As Journal staff writer Geoff Grammer characterized it: "SDSU's infamous student section seems in so many ways to be a mirror image in the stands of what Jaelen House is on the court — hated by everyone but their own, a passionate, positive piece of what makes college basketball so unique and fun." The Show got the last laugh Friday in the Aztecs' 81-70 victory to give San Diego State its 35th win in the past 36 games in Viejas Arena. The only home loss The Show has witnessed in the past two years? To Jaelen House and the Lobos last year.

7. Organ Mountain boys basketball

No 5A team in New Mexico has a longer winning streak than the Knights (22-1), who have prevailed in 21 straight games since a home loss to No. 1 Volcano Vista in Game 2 of the regular season on Dec. 9. Organ Mountain, ranked No. 2 in the state, has been cruising through district play behind star 6-foot-5 center Brandon Kehres (15.6 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game) and guard Yeh-Nhi Wilson (11.3 ppg). Both Kehres and Wilson are seniors, so expect this Knights team to be motivated to finish without an "L" in the 2024 calendar year.

6. UNM tennis

The men's and women's teams are off to impressive starts this year. The men's team is now 7-2 and winner of six straight after defeating UT San Antonio in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday. The women's team has also won six straight and holds a perfect 6-0 record after a dramatic 4-3 win over Northern Arizona on Friday. Sunday's women's match vs. Abilene Christian was postponed. Circle March 10 on the calendar. Both teams have home matches that Sunday (men vs. Denver and women vs. NMSU).

5. Noah Lyles

It's hard to have a come-from-behind victory in an elite-level 60-meter race. In the time it took you to read these first two sentences, the runners have crossed the finish line. But that's exactly what happened in the most anticipated race of this weekend's USATF Indoor Championships in the Albuquerque Convention Center. Noah Lyles (6.43 seconds) ran down Christian Coleman (6.44) in the final 40 meters of the 60-meter sprint to secure his first national title in the event. Impressionnant! (That's how Paris might characterize Lyles' feat).

4. Bastien Amat

New Mexico's senior golfer collected another trophy this weekend after winning the John Burns Intercollegiate in Lihue, Hawaii. He shot an 8-under 64 in Saturday's final round to post a five-shot victory. It's Amat's second win this season and third of his career. The men's golf team finished third at the John Burns, its fourth straight top-three finish. One of those fantastic finishes came the last weekend of January when the team set several school records in winning the National Invitational Tournament against an elite field at OMNI Tucson National.

3. Rebecca Green and Chase Jackson

These two shot put specialists were mentioned in PPR a few weeks ago because of their anticipated meet-up in the USATF Indoor Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Jackson, nee Ealey, won the title (again) on Friday. Green, a New Mexico State track and field athlete, gave it her best throw and finished last in the competition. But what's so neat is Green and Jackson both hail from Los Alamos and in an interview with the Journal, Green joked about what was on everyone's mind: "I mean, what do they put in the water up there? No, I'm kidding." Green then got serious in talking about meeting the champ Jackson: "I think it's great. It just shows me someone that I could be one day, or (who) I look up to (and) that I could get to where she is." PPR is rooting for Green and Jackson to put Los Alamos on the map for something other than atoms and Oscars.

2. Desirae Spearman

A freshman for the New Mexico State softball team, she pitched 13 innings without allowing an earned run as the Aggies raced out to a 4-0 start last weekend. But wait, that's not all. She also hit two homers and a triple and recorded five RBIs in her first weekend playing collegiate softball. On Monday, she was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week. What did she do for an encore? This weekend, she hit four homers, a triple and a double and drove in seven runs, as well as pitching 10 innings, giving up one earned run. NMSU is now 6-2 and Spearman has earned a blip on the national softball radar.

1. Mason Posa

La Cueva's junior linebacker continues to rack up offers from elite college football programs. The latest? Alabama. Yeah, the Crimson Tide, that bastion of college football, is recruiting New Mexico now. Journal prep sports editor James Yodice said on X: "Not a stretch to say this is one of the most significant offers any high school football player from New Mexico has ever received." Posa hasn't yet committed — he still has a senior season to play! — but rest assured a sports-crazed national audience will be paying attention when he makes his announcement.

Honorable mention

Jalin Holland: Los Lunas' junior guard, the top boys basketball recruit in the state, passed 2,000 points in his career on Saturday. He'll add another hundred points or so before the season's over; maybe 200 if he can will the Tigers to the 5A title game.

Will Asby: UNM's senior slugger went 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs to help the Lobos earn a 4-3 win over CSU Bakersfield on Saturday.

Jamal Mashburn Jr.: The Lobos' star guard, whose production has been down this season, finally grabbed the spotlight with two huge 3-pointers in the final 71 seconds to lift UNM to a thrilling 83-82 win over Nevada on Tuesday. After the game, he talked about what it took to mute the criticism that had grown loud on social media. PPR appreciates Mashburn's candor and professionalism in addressing this topic.

End of the bench

The finalists for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame were announced on Friday. Michael Cooper, a star guard/forward for UNM and the Los Angeles Lakers, was on the list. Lou Henson, the famed NMSU and Illinois coach, was not. We'll find out in April whether Cooper will be enshrined in the 2024 class. Coop is one of the best defensive players in NBA history and since that's half the game, PPR congratulates those who recognized him as a worthy candidate. But how can Sweet Lou be excluded, again, from consideration?! He's the winningest coach at Illinois and NMSU (leading both schools to a Final Four appearance) and his 779 career wins rank 16th all-time and are more wins than 20 college basketball coaches already in the Hall of Fame. It's a travesty Henson, who died in 2020, isn't already in the HOF, and it's downright comical he's not even a finalist this year. For that snub, those who left Henson off the ballot can take a seat at the end of the bench.