Jun. 19—For years, the annual high school state tennis tournament was as predictable as singing the ABCs.
Now, not so much.
Santa Fe High’s boys have tossed logic out the window, riding a big (and impressively dominant) upset in this week’s team state quarterfinals to reach Saturday’s Class 5A semifinals. The Demons, who entered the single-elimination draw as the No. 7 seed, cruised to an 8-1 win over No. 2 Centennial on Monday.
It wasn’t the only upset. Three of the four teams to reach the big-school semifinals were lower seeds, including Saturday’s final-four opponent, No. 6 Hobbs.
All 5A matches for boys and girls will be at the Jerry Cline Tennis Complex in Albuquerque. The semifinals start at 11 a.m. with the championship finals underway by 4 p.m.
Let by No. 1 singles player Humza Mahmood, Santa Fe’s lineup includes Diego Gadret, Luis Carlos Flores, Quinn Morris, Jack Joseph and Alder Nadon as the top six singles players. Mahmood and Flores are the top doubles team.
Duals matches are decided when one team wins any combination of five singles and doubles matches of the nine on the schedule.
The Demons are not only seeking the first boys team tennis title in school history; a win would make them the first boys team from any Santa Fe school to ever win an NMAA championship. To get there, they’d likely have to cross paths with No. 1 overall seed La Cueva.
The small-school team draws have gone more to form. All four winners in the boys quarterfinals were higher seeds, including No. 2 St. Michael’s. Behind players like Wade McDermott, Kameron Dunmar, Evan Bloodworth, Chris Esquibel and Jaxon Bujold, the Horsemen steamrolled St. Pius, 8-1, in the quarterfinals Tuesday. They’ll face No. 3 Lovington in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Saturday at Albuquerque Academy.
All 1A-4A boys and girls duals will be at Academy, the same venue that hosted last week’s singles and doubles state tournament.
Among the local players to fare well on those courts last week were Mariella Rigales, the top overall singles player for the No. 5 seed St. Michael’s girls. The freshman teamed with Lady Horsemen junior Hannah Garcia to win the doubles championship last weekend, and then the pair helped the team beat No. 4 Santa Fe Prep, 7-2, in this week’s quarterfinals.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Lady Horsemen. Their semifinal date is with No. 1 Los Alamos, an 8-1 winner over Grants in the quarterfinals. Like the boys, all girls quarterfinals begin at 11 a.m. with the championship finals at 4 p.m.
NOTESOf the four different team draws in this week’s respective 1A-4A and 5A quarterfinals, the No. 5 seed went a combined 2-2. The only No. 4 seeds to win were Los Alamos on the 1A-4A boys side and Rio Rancho in the girls 5A draw. The Hilltoppers swept Belen, 9-0, in the opening round and will face No. 1 Albuquerque Academy on Saturday. … There is no cost for admission to either of Saturday’s venues. … While no boys teams from Santa Fe have ever won a state championship, four have done so on the girls side. The most recent was St. Michael’s in the 2012 small-school tournament. Before that were a trio of blue trophies for Santa Fe High between 1994-97.