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The Los Alamos boys basketball team’s district title hopes will depend on what team shows up.
If the Hilltoppers team that played in the first half of their game against Del Norte Friday shows up, hopes will be slim. But if the second half team and the team that upended defending state champion Española Valley Monday shows up, Los Alamos will be right in the midst of the District 2-5A title talks.
The Hilltoppers took down the rival Sundevils, 55-48, in front of a ruckus crowd at Griffith Gym. It was Los Alamos’ first win against Española since the 2011-2012 season, ending a nine-game losing streak against the Sundevils.
“There’s always that stigma of playing Española and trying to beat them,” Los Alamos coach Mike Kluk said. “This team (Los Alamos) has kind of struggled with its identity and its confidence a bit, but hopefully this is a big confidence builder.”
Los Alamos improved to 10-12 overall and 2-3 in District 2-5A, while keeping pace with the middle teams in the district standings. The win put Los Alamos ahead of 2-3 Albuquerque Academy and one game behind 3-2 Española.

It was one of those games where the Los Alamos boys basketball team couldn’t capitalize from a hefty size advantage.
Instead, the Hilltoppers couldn’t cope with the speed of the Capital guards, as the Jaguars pulled away late and handed Los Alamos a 58-36 loss Tuesday night in Santa Fe.
“We were not surprised that we lost,” Los Alamos coach Mike Kluk said. “We didn’t play all that well and it was disappointing.”
The Hilltoppers fell to 1-2 in District 2-5A and 9-11 overall, while Capital stayed within a game of first place and improved to 17-4 overall.
In its previous two games, Los Alamos was able to get productivity from post players. But those games happened 11 and 14 days prior to Tuesday, as games against Goddard and Española Valley were cancelled and rescheduled.
“I don’t know how much it had to do with us not playing in over a week,” Kluk said. “We had a week of practice leading up to Espanola but that didn’t end up happening, Maybe that had something to do with it.”

The Los Alamos hockey team struggled without Ben Rees and Jake Dunwoody.
The Hilltoppers dropped a road game to La Cueva 5-1 on Saturday in Albuquerque and fell to 10-5 overall. The loss also put Los Alamos one game and a half behind first place Durango and Cibola.  
Rees and Dunwoody’s absence played a big part in the Bears (4-6-2) being able to stifle a Los Alamos offense that scored 68 goals going into Saturday’s game.
La Cueva was able to capitalize in its attack third and pile the pressure early on the Hilltoppers backline. Despite that early pressure, it was Los Alamos that got on the board first after Rico Zerr’s first period goal.
After La Cueva tied it 1-1 early in the second period, the Bears continued to execute in the Los Alamos zone and scored two more goals in the frame. Jake Rutten appeared to have tied it for Los Alamos midway through the second period but his goal was waved off and the Hilltoppers weren’t able to recover.
The Bears sealed their fourth win of the season by capitalizing against an attack-heavy Los Alamos team and scoring two more goals in the final period.
Los Alamos will travel to face rival Taos at 5:15 p.m. Friday.

The defensive effort that Los Alamos girls basketball coach Josh Archuleta was looking for came at a good time.
The Hilltoppers created hustle plays and intensity on defense to claim their biggest win of the season, a 44-41 overtime win against District 2-5A leaders Albuquerque Academy on Monday night at Griffith Gym.
Los Alamos improved to 6-15 overall and won its first district game. The Hilltoppers also ended an eight-game winning streak for Academy, which fell to 15-5 overall and lost for the first time in district play.
“That’s what it says about this team,” Archuleta said. “This team finally came out and believed in themselves. We told them they have to bring up the intensity every single quarter. It comes down to... do we believe in one another to excel and be the team that we know we can be? And that just happened here tonight.”
The Hilltoppers set the tempo in the overtime period and started the period on an 8-0 run. Los Alamos’ defense didn’t allow Academy to find high percentage shots and forced several Charger turnovers. Academy didn’t score in overtime until the 52-second mark but a pair of free throw cut the Hilltoppers lead to 42-39. Los Alamos put the game away with a bucket on the other end.