Magdalena Basketball Scrimmage offers season preview

Magdalena hosted a scrimmage on Saturday, Nov. 22. Girls and boys varsity teams from four other schools traveled to Magdalena for the preseason games: Alamo, Cobre, East Mountain and Zuni.

Each team got to play in four games with 15-minute halves. Games started at 10 a.m. and were being played in both of Magdalena’s gyms. Three certified officials were on each court for each of the games, and scores were being kept as well. The formal setup gave the teams a preseason taste of competition without the regular season pressure.

Magdalena boys

The Magdalena Steers boys varsity team had a slow start to Saturday’s scrimmage games. They lost their first two games, to East Mountain and Alamo.

Head Coach Jory Mirabal said that turnovers were the main issues for the team early on, but he also emphasized that it was just a scrimmage and called it a “glorified practice.”

“This is for practice and hopefully fun, and this is November not March,” was typed on the schedule and info sheet for the scrimmage.

The scrimmage was a great opportunity for teams to figure out some of their strengths and weaknesses, and Magdalena certainly learned a lot throughout the day. They went on to win their two afternoon games, against Zuni and Cobre, even while rotating through line-ups frequently to give all of the players lots of time on the court.

The Steers were 25-6 overall last season and first place in Class A District 2 at 7-1. They won two state playoff games last year before a loss to Logan ended their run.

Magdalena girls

The Magdalena girls team won all four of their games for the day. Sharp shooting and smart passing combined for an offense that was explosive at times.

“I feel like the day was a success. We worked on a lot of different things with a lot of different combinations of people, and I thought it was a very positive outcome.” Magdalena girls varsity Head Coach Sara Sue Olney said.

There is a lot of depth to the team as well. Play was smooth even when they rotated out their entire line-up to get everyone playing time. The team discovered some areas for improvement as well. Early on fouls were an issue, and then some aspects of defense throughout the day.

“Pressure defense and rotations in that, which will come with more practice.” Olney said.

The Magdalena girls were 23-7 overall last season. They came in second for their district at 6-2. They won one state playoff game in March before losing to Quemado.

Alamo boys

Alamo had a strong start to the day and won their first three games.

Head Coach Lemuel Guerro, Assistant Coach Obed Torres and the Cougars varsity team then faced Class 3A Cobre. Cobre looked to be the dominant team in the first half. The Cougars fought back in the second half. Solid defense and a few fast breaks helped them regain the lead with only seconds left. The Cobre Indians responded in those seconds and regained a one point lead. The 2.7 seconds left on the clock wasn’t enough, and the Cougars lost by one in their final game of the day.

The disappointment didn’t last long. Players and coaches were back to smiles and laughs in no time. They were ready for a group photo, satisfied with their successes in the fun day of basketball.

The Cougars were 21-8 overall last year, and they were second in Class A District 3 with a 6-2 record. They lost to Cimarron last year in the state playoffs.

Alamo girls

The Lady Cougars had a slow start to their day of basketball, but they ended on a positive note with a win over Cobre.

“I think in this fourth game they got in the groove and got their chemistry together.” Assistant Coach Lyndy Torres said.

“We’ve learned some valuable things about ourselves, and anytime you can get on the court against anyone other than you know your own players, they push you, they work on your game.” Head Coach Randy Hunt said.

Hunt is rejoining the Alamo team for his seventh year as head coach after a three year break which saw three different coaches for the team. He said they had a good summer, with kids coming to the gym and also traveling for a tournament. He’ll use his 50 plus years of experience to add stability and organization to help rebuild this team.

Hunt went on to say that they will have to work on their shooting, but also that the basics are what he is good at. Overall, he was really happy with what they found out about themselves during the day.

“We’re not very tall, so we’re going to have to be fast, and we’ve got some kids that can run the court.” Hunt said.

The Lady Cougars were 10-17 overall last season and 4-4 in their district for third place.