“We are excited to go from six teams to 16 teams,” said Bob Gallagher, president of the state’s Oil and Gas Association.
“To have all three high schools in Las Cruces, plus Albuquerque High and Highland — and four other states — is an absolute tribute to coach (Brian) Smith,” lauded Gallagher.
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“I’m excited to get a chance to play different teams and showcase our facilities,” Smith said. “We want to get this thing to get nationwide. It’s a great opportunity for college coaches to come out and scout.”
First-round games are slated to tip-off at Rio Rancho High School, starting with a 9 a.m. clash Monday, Dec. 29, between Carl Hayden High (Phoenix) and Evangel Christian (Albuquerque), a quarterfinal game in the “Green” bracket.
The rest of the first day’s action, with alternating “Blue” and “Green” bracket games are: Las Cruces vs. Newport Harbor at 10:30 a.m.; Mayfield vs. Moriarty at noon; Basha vs. Highland at 1:30 p.m.; Oñate vs. King’s Gate Academy (Hobbs) at 3 p.m.; Central vs. Albuquerque High at 5:30 p.m.; Trevor Browne vs. Rio Rancho JV at 7 p.m.; and Rio Rancho vs. Dulce at 8:30 p.m.
Every team plays three games; winners’ bracket semifinal games will be played Tuesdays at 5:30 and 7 p.m. for the Green bracket and 3 and 8:30 p.m. for the Blue bracket.
Gallagher may be excited about the enlarged field, but he is less-than-happy about the business community’s support.
His association and the New Mexico Sports Authority kicked in $5,000 each to support the tournament. And although the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce sent out a request for support to its membership, as of last Wednesday morning Gallagher had yet to hear from anybody.
“As far as the business community, I’m a little concerned at this point,” he said. “We put out a letter through the chamber of commerce and have not received anything at this point.”
Gallagher estimates the economic impact on the City of Vision to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $200,000.
Most of the $10,000 from the Oil and Gas Association and New Mexico Sports Authority goes to area hotels and motels “and allows them to stay here without paying for it,” Gallagher said. “That’s 40 room-nights each night, just for the teams. You know Las Cruces is going to travel well, and the out-of-state teams as well. People will be coming in to spend money in our stores, on gas.”
Gallagher said the tournament seeks an additional 16 sponsors, at $500 apiece, which “gets you a lot: your name in the program and on T-shirts, and a banner in the gym. And the ability to know you are making the quality of life better in Rio Rancho.
“That really personalizes the tournament — and when you do that, people talk about your tournament. They talk about what they liked, and where they were at,” he said.
“It’s the most prestigious tournament in the state — and I see this turning into the most prestigious tournament in the Southwest. We’ll annually get three Las Cruces schools, three from Albuquerque, plus Rio Rancho and Cleveland High School — and get eight others.”
Gallagher admitted this isn’t the best time to seek $500 from business owners, already adversely impacted by the economy and many facing a tough-than-usual holiday stretch.
“There are good reasons to be concerned about economic reasons,” he said. “I want to see the forest and not worry about the trees in front of me. Maybe investing $500 into an event will be an investment that will pay four or five or six times (over).”
The fast-food places and every place in town will be packed. That’s 11 teams that travel with 20 people each, not counting fans,” he explained. “That’s an impact of 700 to 1,000 people in Rio Rancho. Let’s keep them in Rio Rancho, let them know what they can do here — eat here, sleep here and have fun here.”
If interested in being a part of next week’s basketball tournament, call Gallagher at 660-9009.
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