Los Alamos Daily Post sports announcers Mike Cote, left, and Gene Mortenson. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
By MIKE COTE
Sports
Los Alamos Daily Post
- Lots of live 2-4A basketball scheduled to be broadcast on the Los Alamos Daily Post YouTube channel
It’s one of the most exciting times of the year for prep sports fans.
District season for boys and girls basketball gets going around the state, and for the Los Alamos Hilltopper hoops teams, there will be plenty of challenges coming up.
For fans, many of the upcoming District 2-4A boys and girls basketball games will be broadcast on the Los Alamos Daily Post’s YouTube channel.
Gene Mortensen, the Los Alamos Daily Post play-by-play announcer and the “Voice of the Hilltoppers” for nearly 40 years, realizes COVID protocols could bring challenges to fans who want to see the game live.
“That can be very frustrating for the Hilltopper faithful, especially during district basketball,” Mortensen said. “Of course, fans’ first option is to see the games live, but I’m very happy I can bring these games to fans over the internet. The district season looms over the horizon and the path to New Mexico’s ‘Holy Grail,’ the state playoffs, is wide open.”
The first scheduled District 2-4A contest is Tuesday night. That’s a girls game between Espanola Valley and Pojoaque Valley, which will be played in Jacona.
For the Hilltopper boys, they will open district play Tuesday night at home when they face the Moriarty Pintos. The Hilltopper girls are scheduled start their 2-4A season Jan. 27 also at home against Espanola Valley’s Sundevils.
Schedules, for all teams at this point, are still malleable, however. Because of COVID challenges, schedules are very much subject to change.
Los Alamos’ boys, who have had several tough games this month, dropped their most recent outing, falling 54-47 to Albuquerque Academy Jan. 11.
Los Alamos played that game without the services of center Mark Cleland and three other regular roster players. Without Cleland, who had perhaps the best game of his season three days earlier in a win over Artesia, Academy was dominant under the glass for the bulk of the contest and its second-chance points were a big reason the Chargers came out victorious.
The Hilltopper boys (8-6) have even split their four contests this month so far, but have not won back-to-back games since wins over Valencia and Escalante in mid-December.
Moriarty’s Pintos, meanwhile, are struggling heading into a nondistrict game at Socorro coming up this week. Moriarty (4-8) has lost three straight and six of its last seven, including lopsided losses to Las Vegas Robertson, Ruidoso and Portales.
The Hilltopper boys will be tested during the 2-4A season. Taos and Espanola Valley were both ranked in the top five in Class 4A as of late last week and both teams are in double-digits in the win column – Espanola Valley has done so playing arguably the toughest schedule in the classification.
On the girls side, the Pintos, Taos’ Tigers and Pojoaque Valley’s Elkettes are all on a roll, having won four games or more in a row.
Los Alamos, however, hasn’t been. The Hilltopper girls (8-7) have dropped their last two contests and have a tough rivalry game against St. Pius X scheduled for Saturday. St. Pius (5-6) is having an unusual off-year so far but has historically given the Hilltoppers plenty of headaches.
District opening night opponent Espanola Valley also has failed to get on track this season. The Sundevils are two games under .500 heading into this week’s play, but had a respectable showing Saturday against undefeated Bernalillo.
The Hilltoppers have been led this season by freshman shooting guard GG Romero, who is a solid long-range shooter. Over the last few games, Romero has also been more aggressive heading to the basket off the dribble.
Moriarty (11-2) is the odds-on favorite to take the district title this season, featuring one of the stingiest defenses in the entire state and were ranked No. 5 at the standings at the end of last week. Taos, Los Alamos and Espanola Valley all hanging around near the No. 10 spot in the same 4A rankings, while Pojoaque Valley is the lowest-ranked team coming out of District 2.
For broadcast information for both boys and girls district basketball, check the Los Alamos Daily Post website at ladailypost.com.
Mortensen excited to be back on the call
For Hilltopper fans, it’s hardly a sports season without hearing the voice of Gene Mortensen calling the action.
Mortensen, a New Mexico Broadcasters Association Hall of Famer and longtime radio announcer, could not be more pleased to be back on the air, particularly during this time of year when district basketball is getting cranked back up.
He was off the air for several months after KRSN AM 1490 went dark in mid-2020, but has a brand new home on the Los Alamos Daily Post’s YouTube channel calling Los Alamos sports.
“I had the good fortune to broadcast Los Alamos High School sports on KRSN for over 35 years, but with the unfortunate demise of our community radio station, I thought my broadcast days were over,” Mortensen said.
Mortensen’s outlook didn’t get any rosier when COVID-19 turned into a pandemic and seriously affected the sports calendar at the high school and around the state.
While the challenges have been ever-present since early 2020, Mortensen said that he’s willing to battle through those thanks to the renewed chance of calling games for the Los Alamos Daily Post.
“Carol Clark and the Daily Post came to my rescue,” he said. “Teaming up with Nate Limback and John McHale, Carol resurrected ’Topper sports and I’m happy that we’re off and running again. It’s always exciting, and we’ll be there every step of the way!”
Girls basketball district schedule (schedule subject to change)
Jan. 27: vs. Espanola Valley
Jan. 29: at Taos
Feb. 1: vs. Pojoaque Valley
Feb. 4: vs. Moriarty
Feb. 8: at Moriarty
Feb. 12: at Espanola Valley
Feb. 15: vs. Taos
Feb. 18: at Pojoaque Valley
Boys basketball district schedule (schedule subject to change)
Jan. 20: vs. Moriarty
Jan. 25: at Espanola Valley
Jan. 28: vs. Taos
Feb. 3: at Pojoaque Valley
Feb. 5: at Moriarty
Feb. 11: vs. Espanola Valley
Feb. 17: at Taos
Feb. 19: vs. Pojoaque Valley
