THE VILLAGE
By now you all may have noticed the vast improvement to the parking lot at Desert Sage Academy gym. The massive potholes that had plagued our precious vehicle's suspensions for years were filled. Not by the public schools or the construction company working on the grounds. It wasn't the city and it wasn't a miracle. It was Danny Salazar, captain for teams Lethal Injection and IPS. He refused payment, and he hasn't asked for any recognition. He also got rid of some pesky tape residue lines on the gym floor that had been an ugly scar we inherited from DSA. We knew he operated a company that could get these projects done and he happily obliged for meger trade for himself and some teammates. A kind gesture and some exceptional talent from a competent construction aficionado.
Back in June of 2023, before the first game of Santa Fe Swish's first tournament a player jumped to grab the rim (which were not break-away) during warmups and broke the side of the rim. The rim was playable but hanging on by a thread. After a minor freak out we called Brian Fairchild, who might know where to get a new rim on a Saturday morning, as soon as possible. He happened to have a beautiful spring loaded rim in his garage and rushed it over to switch out at half time. We still have that rim on the backboard and have since upgraded the opposite rim to a break-away. Again, Brian never asked for compensation or recognition, just trade to play.
We used to have the bleachers permanently pulled to the court's sideline, leaving very little room to operate and enjoy the space. The remote to control the retraction of the bleachers was broken and not being fixed anytime soon by Santa Fe Public Schools. After asking around we found out that Tim "Junior" Aragon is a skilled electrician who was able to bypass the remote, risk his life, and retract the bleachers to where they are now.
Nick Martinez who keeps charge of the shot clock and scoreboard has spent hours of his time helping troubleshoot the school scoreboard we now use. We used to have a much more "budge" set up. Gabe Montano has poured his heart into contacting teams, growing the league, hiring help, and taking care of numerous tasks that we've asked of him. He's done it with enthusiasm and a smile every step of the way. Mario Montano has helped design and order team jerseys, donated time, family and even a high powered circulation fan to help cool the gym this past summer. Nick Williams aka "GM" has been the newest member of the Swish team and I think it goes without saying that his good nature, enthusiasm and professionalism has raised the bar for our humble organization.
It takes a village, it takes kindness and it takes time. Swish wanted to publicly thank these individuals and hope you will too next time you see them. The basketball community in Santa Fe is a special group and with the help of our village we've been able to provide a safe, consistent space for us to gather, compete, get some exercise and play the sport we all love. In a crazy world where dichotomy is king, hate is seen as power and aggresive escalation of conflict is common practice. We are so proud of the inclusiveness, respect and joy that exudes night in, night out of our beautiful community. Let's keep this energy into the new year as our culture and country need it more than ever!
Week 12 Recap:
After a couple weeks off for the holidays it felt great to be back in the gym and Tuesday night's comp league started off with a stellar OT game between Killer B'z (6-1) and Dad Bodz (0-7) 76-68. The winless Bodz gave a herculean effort to almost upset the heavily favored B'z behind a big performance from Jeremiah "Reezy" Jacquez as he punished the paint for 23 pts and 9 rebs and they got a highly efficient double double from Jassen Lopez, 11 pts (4 of 5 fg) 10 rebs, 4 dimes. For the Killerz Jacob Roybal led a balanced team attack with 17 pts, 7 rebs and 4 dimes. Brian Fairchild added 16 pts, 6 rebs and 4 dimes and Antonio Lovato did a little of everything, 12 pts, 7 rebs, 9 dimes and 4 thefts.
In the 7 o'clock game Lethal Injection (3-3) dominated a tough Degenerates (3-3) squad 79-55, using a 47-20 second half surge and some stout defense to run away with a quality win. Gabe Serrano led the Lethal ones with 26 pts and Alex Gutierrez doubled his fun with 19 pts and 11 rebs. Mario Archuleta did all he could with 25 pts, 10 rebs and 6 dimes but the rest of the debauched Degens struggled to get anything going against a tough defensive effort.
We were all excited about the #1 vs #2 matchup at 8pm between Santa Fe Style (8-0) and Mob (5-2) but after a competitive first half, the Style turned up the D and turned 18 TO's into easy offense as they slugged the Mob 99-63. Cody Garcia was everywhere all at once all the time with 35 pts, 9 rebs, 6 dimes and 8 thefts as he flirted with a quadruple double. Angel Parra yawned his way to 21 pts, 7 rebs and 4 dimes and Chano Herrera was smooth with it going for 20 and 8. Andrew Ellsworth was the only Mob member to get anything going and finished with 18 pts and 5 assists.
To start the rec league action we got a shootout between Dad Bod'z (4-3) and Zia Elite (0-8) with Bod'z hitting the century mark and getting the dub 101-87. The inside/out, nicknamed combo of "Reezy" and "Spider" was an unstoppable offensive force. Jeremiah Jacquez went for 25 pts, 13 rebs and 5 dimes while David Jaramillo lived behind the arc for 31 pts, 6 rebs and 6 dimes. Jassen Lopez was notable with 14 pts, 8 rebs, 8 dimes and 5 thefts. Chava Chacon led 5 Elite's in double figures with 21 pts while adding 6 rebs and 6 dimes in the loss.
In the 7pm contest we saw Nothing But Net (2-5) put up a solid effort before losing 72-81 to Flash Flood (6-2). Xavier Padilla posted a solid double double with 18 pts and 15 rebs in the loss, while Martin Ortiz and Isaiah Bustamante each added 17 pts. Flood's warriors came out to play with Dominic Roybal going for 35 pts, Matt Brito was two dimes short of a triple double (24, 11, 8) and Luis Alvarado finished the three amigo show with 15 pts and 8 dimes.
The night finished with a heck of a game and a 93-86 win for Hoopers (4-2) behind 27 pts from Larry Morina. While Diego Ortiz hit that double trouble with 21 pts, 12 rebs, 6 dimes and 2 Mutumbos. They needed all that and a bag of chips with the dip to hold off 2nd Stringers (4-4) with the red hot Shawn Daniels putting up 38 pts, 5 reb, 6 dimes, 3 thefts and Wilford Troup 26 pts, 6 assists. Also for the Stringers, 62 year old Roddy Cabbage added a "man's man" double double with 11 pts and 12 rebs, awesome stuff Roddy!
We had just two games for the 35+ league as we ended the regular season.
At 6pm Nothing But Net (5-5) overpowered Santa Fe Elite (3-7) 84-77 behind Matt Brito's 24 pts. For Elite, whoever was wearing the number 3 jersey led the way with 27 pts (note to our wonderful scorekeepers, please fill out the book correctly).
In the second contest, 505 Unit (9-1) beat Zia Elite (4-6) 84-66 behind 38 pts from Brandon Encinias. Jassen Lopez had 19 pts for Zia in the loss.
Good luck to the 35+ fellas in the tourney which starts next week. We will be starting the next 35+ league as soon as possible after the tourney ends and we need 12 teams to join so if you wanna run or know a team that wants to run have them sign up ASAP so we can nail down the schedule and keep these old timers hoopin'! You can sign up and share at this link 35+ Registration Page
Alright you mad Swishers, that's another wonderful week in the books! Share this info with your community so we can continue to grow our competition and don't forget to give flowers to those guys mentioned above that have helped make this organization the very best in Northern New Mexico!
Ball is life.
Respect the game, Santa Fe Swish
