RISE AND SHINE ON
A resurrection is upon us! Yeah, we all know the story of Jesus rising three days after the crucifixion, giving hope to eternal existence and claiming victory over sin and death but this resurrection we breathe life into is of a quality hoop league in Northern New Mexico. A once flourishing cornucopious of hardwood spectacle spreading far and wide from Española Valley to Santa Fe. Yet around 2013 for unknown reasons the leagues started to dwindle, pickleball took up precious court space, Pojoaque ended their long run of having one of the best hoop scenes in the area and Ft. Marcy barely recognized Jumpshot Jesus' favorite past time. Needless to say the scene had been on its deathbed for years before 2020 when covid provided the metaphorical nail in the coffin. Coming out of the global pandemic at a time when connection and community were greatly needed the city of Santa Fe was seemingly overwhelmed and doing nearly nothing to create spaces for adult sports.
Our fair city has a long, storied tradition of producing and supporting the highschool hoop community and for good reason. With big schools like Capitol High, St. Michael's High and Santa Fe High School turning out blue chip recruits, competing and winning state championships, there is understandable hype around basketball in our city. Yet for the parents and supporters of those hard working kids there were limited chances to relive the glory days, stay in the game and continue their hoop journey. So in 2022, out of a dying middle school gym in the old Capshaw that had transitioned to a remote learning school with no sports teams, Swish saw an opportunity. Born was the humble beginnings of this organization we are all familiar with now. It has risen. A resurrection.
Whatever God you recognize, they are good and want you to be kind to each other. Bless you all, Happy Easter, eat some chocolate and get some shots up.
Weekly Games Recap:
Just the 35+ league was in action again this week of Spring Break which made a last minute switch to the ol' Capshaw gym from the sweet, short court the old timers have become accustomed to. Thank you for adjusting and for showing up and showing out.
Game one got underway with Vatos Locos putting up a valiant effort against the heavily favored 505 Unit before falling 73-58. A balanced scoring sheet from the Vatos kept it close led by Grayson Vogel's 15 pts and 6 rebs. Paul Kirpes (13 pts) and Larry Delagarza (11 pts) managed double digits while providing a big team defensive effort. That effort was thwarted by "Super" Mario Montano's 18 pts, 10 reb, 4 dimes and 3 thefts as he led the Units to the win. Rob CdeBaca also notched a double double with 15 pts, 11 rebs and 4 dimes.
Game two saw the implementation of the new “no mercy” rule as IPS thumped Santa Fe Elite 105-58. David "Spider" Jaramillo went full “Uncle Drew” as he hit eleven threes en route to 43 pts. Greb Trujillo (21 pts, 11 rebs) and Josh Villa (18 pts, 10 rebs) got their double doubles in this big win. For the Elite, Thomas Aragon led the fray with 15 pts as Luke Wakefield and Dennis Lopez also found the stat sheet netting 12 pts a piece.
Game three between Mob and Nothing But Net capped off the Spring night in quality competitive fashion. Mob escaped with the win, 74-59 behind the brothers Ellsworth as Andrew Ellsworth led Mob with 22 pts, 14 rebs and 9 dimes just missing the triple double and Ben Ellsworth had a highly efficient 22 pts and 10 rebs. On the other side of the ball, for those that never hit rim, Captain Martin Ortiz led all scorers with 23 pts and grabbed 7 rebs. John CdeBaca scored double digits as well with 14 pts.
We hope you are all enjoying the holiday weekend and also enjoying the quality Swish basketball experiences we work hard to provide. We have been looking for opportunities to expand our open gym time and with this Monday's time colliding with the national championship for the NCAA tournament we are able to offer bonus open gym this Wednesday from 7:30-9:30pm! We hope to see you there.
Respect the game, Santa Fe Swish
