Del Norte and Bernalillo played the longest New Mexico boys’ basketball game of this century on Tuesday night.
The Knights and Spartans needed five overtimes in a District 6-4A game before Del Norte finally secured a 91-87 road victory.
“It was crazy,” Knights coach Jeron McIntosh said Wednesday. “I’ve never been in a game for so long.”
Almost no one did. There hasn’t been a men’s game of this length in the state since Alamogordo and Santa Fe went five overtimes in December 1986.
According to New Mexico Activities Association records, only two men’s games lasted longer: Alamogordo-Mayfield, a six-overtime game in 1996, and Cliff-Lordsburg, which went seven overtimes in January 1986.
Individually, the stat for the night was this: Del Norte senior guard Shane Douma-Sanchez had two points in three quarters. The state’s leading scorer finished with 40. He and all of the Knights were fired Wednesday and Thursday by McIntosh.
“When the game ended, the boys weren’t even happy,” he said. “They were, like, it’s over. Finally.”
Bernalillo, meanwhile, has lost two games in overtime in the past two weeks alone; the Spartans fell in two OTs to Valley on Jan. 27.
The girls’ OT record (nmact.org) is five years, by Coronado and Mesa Vista almost exactly three years ago.
JOHNSON CHANGES JOB: Tim Johnson was ready to retire from coaching. Curtis Flakes changed his mind.
The two worked together as football coaches at Albuquerque High in the mid-2010s, and now they will be reunited at St. Pius.
Johnson resigned as AHS head coach on Tuesday and will serve as offensive coordinator at St. Pius, where Flakes was recently named the Sartans’ new head coach.
“I told Curtis, I’m going to take it year after year,” Johnson, 49, said.
Johnson coached AHS for seven seasons; he succeeded Flakes with the Bulldogs. Both men coached at AHS in 2014 and 2015, with Flakes coming from Manzano and Johnson from Volcano Vista. Johnson coached AHS from 2016 until last season.
Albuquerque High posted the vacancy Wednesday morning.
OVER 1,000: Sandia High sophomore guard Sydney Benally hit 1,000 points Tuesday night during his short career with the Matadors.
Benally is the second sophomore in town — after Eldorado’s Bella Hines — to reach that milestone this season.
Emma Christiano of Las Cruces High also joined the 1,000 point club earlier this week.
NMMI ADDED 3 HAWKS: The New Mexico Military Institute had previously drafted Volcano Vista linebacker Nathan Wallin into its recruiting class, and now NMMI has probed Volcano Vista’s talent roster yet again.
Quarterback Elliot Paskett-Bell, one of the best QBs in the state last season, is heading to Roswell. The same goes for defensive end Marcus Perea and defensive back Gabriel Pino.
Los Lunas quarterback Paul Cieremans has accepted a preferred offer from New Mexico State.
THIS AND THAT: Highland has promoted Jason Schmidt, the Hornets junior varsity coach, to take charge of the Hornets’ outstanding men’s soccer program. … Cibola softball player Hailey Francois committed to Division I at Siena University in Loudonville, New York. … The Albuquerque Academy Boys clinched the 6-4A district basketball title Tuesday night with a 57-52 home win over Hope Christian.
