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ALBUQUERQUE — Unfinished business?
Not anymore.
The slogan that worked as the calling card for the St. Michael’s boys basketball team this season was finally edited to, “Done and done,” Saturday afternoon in The Pit.
The Horsemen, behind 28 points from Kamal Sitth, 20 from Dillan McCoy and a double-double from Ryan Hunt, made off with the blue trophy by beating longstanding familiar foe Robertson, 70-57, in the Class 3A championship game.
It avenges last season’s loss in the title game but, if we’re being honest, only serves as the latest in what should be more playoff rematches to come. The Horsemen and Cardinals have met in the state finals four times in the last five years with each team winning twice.
Robertson’s roster returns all but one player next season, prompting Cardinals guard Michael Marr to say the offseason rebuild would start three hours after Saturday’s game. A handful of players, he said, would hit the gym for a shootaround and lifting weights once the team got back to Las Vegas, N.M.
That same fire is what pushed the Horsemen this time last year. Losing to Robertson in the 2025 finals didn’t sit well with St. Michael’s coach Dakota Montoya. As is tradition, the losing team usually sticks around long enough to watch the winning team get its blue trophy and pose for photos.
That moment sunk in. In the days that followed, Montoya made it his team’s mission to do what last season’s team didn’t.
“The story kind of wrote itself for us,” said Montoya. “It’s something that we envisioned since leaving the floor watching that celebration on the other end last year.”
St. Michael’s (26-5) only trailed in Saturday’s game for 21 seconds. The game featured five ties and only one lead change — which took place three minutes in when McCoy banked home an offensive rebound to put the Horsemen in front. The lead grew to double digits late in the first quarter and was 30-21 at the half.
Fouls were an issue all game for Robertson. Marr picked up his third foul early in the second quarter right around the time Stith got his second and headed to the Horsemen bench. The two were assigned to guard one another to start the game.
“Tonight, the plan was to shut him down, I think I did a pretty good job with that,” Stith said.
Marr turned the ball over eight times but did have a game high six assists. As both players sat for an extended time in the second quarter, the Cardinals rallied while St. Michael’s sputtered.
The Horsemen saw a 24-13 lead shrink to 26-20 on a Brian Rubin midrange jumper midway through the second quarter as the Horsemen went more than four minutes without scoring.
A human spark plug if there ever was one, Marr was clearly frustrated by his mounting fouls. At one point, he walked behind his team’s bench to gather himself. During a timeout late in the quarter, he drifted away from the team huddle to talk to one of the referees.
Marr said he had to lay off Stith on defense, which opened lanes for the already dangerous Stith to be even more of a problem. He continuously sliced through the heart of Robertson’s defense, although he did have three of his shots blocked in the third quarter by Cardinals big man Nathan Gonzales.
The 6-foot-6 junior swatted seven shots, had 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He, too, dealt with mounting fouls before eventually picking up his fifth in the fourth quarter.
With overwhelming size — some St. Michael’s rotations had the team’s shortest player taller than four of Robertson’s five guys — the Horsemen were able to dominate the glass. They had a 50-35 edge in rebounding, but a commanding 28-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
Robertson coach Adam Bustos called them “Trae Young assists,” a reference to the NBA star guard who often gets his teammates scoring opportunities by crashing the glass on hard drives that produce offensive rebounds and easy buckets.
“I get it, big team,” Bustos said. “They’re going to bang; I would do the same thing.”
Both coaches gave credit to the Cardinals for battling back after falling behind early on.
“The hardest part, I think, is you get down to a good team and it takes a lot of energy to get back into it,” Bustos said.
Montoya said the idea all game was to go slow and steady, to let his team’s overwhelming size create headaches for the Cardinals in the paint. Robertson had an answer for that in the second half. The Cardinals tied the game twice in the final four minutes of the third quarter but never went back in front.
A pair of free throws from McCoy put the Horsemen in front, 42-40, late in the period. He then threw down a dunk off a turnover with three minutes left in the game to open a 10-point lead and effectively end it.
The free throw struggles that wreaked havoc on the Horsemen in a semifinal win over Santa Fe Indian School weren’t quite as bad Saturday. The team missed 13 tries from the line, but one of the bright spots was Hunt’s 5-for-6 effort from the stripe as he finished with 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Only six Horsemen scored in the game as three Cardinals players — Marr, Gonzales and Rubin — fouled out. Marr’s fifth was a technical foul during a dead ball situation with 52 seconds remaining.
NOTES
Moving up the hardware ladder: Saturday’s title was the 13th for St. Michael’s, which ranks third among all New Mexico boys basketball teams. Hobbs has 17 and Hope Christian has 16. The Horsemen’s 24 finals appearances is the most in state history and their 36 trips to the semifinals is just one behind Hobbs for the top spot. … A handful of Cardinals dyed their hair before Saturday’s game. Marr, Diego Jaramillo, Sonnie Cruz, Micah Vigil and Michael Salazar either went all-in with blonde hair or sported frosted tips. … Robertson had three former players take part in the state tournament for other teams. Former starters were on the roster at Sandia and Cleveland, with a third nonstarter at Hope Christian.
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Not anymore.
The slogan that worked as the calling card for the St. Michael’s boys basketball team this season was finally edited to, “Done and done,” Saturday afternoon in The Pit.
The Horsemen, behind 28 points from Kamal Sitth, 20 from Dillan McCoy and a double-double from Ryan Hunt, made off with the blue trophy by beating longstanding familiar foe Robertson, 70-57, in the Class 3A championship game.
It avenges last season’s loss in the title game but, if we’re being honest, only serves as the latest in what should be more playoff rematches to come. The Horsemen and Cardinals have met in the state finals four times in the last five years with each team winning twice.
Robertson’s roster returns all but one player next season, prompting Cardinals guard Michael Marr to say the offseason rebuild would start three hours after Saturday’s game. A handful of players, he said, would hit the gym for a shootaround and lifting weights once the team got back to Las Vegas, N.M.
That same fire is what pushed the Horsemen this time last year. Losing to Robertson in the 2025 finals didn’t sit well with St. Michael’s coach Dakota Montoya. As is tradition, the losing team usually sticks around long enough to watch the winning team get its blue trophy and pose for photos.
That moment sunk in. In the days that followed, Montoya made it his team’s mission to do what last season’s team didn’t.
“The story kind of wrote itself for us,” said Montoya. “It’s something that we envisioned since leaving the floor watching that celebration on the other end last year.”
St. Michael’s (26-5) only trailed in Saturday’s game for 21 seconds. The game featured five ties and only one lead change — which took place three minutes in when McCoy banked home an offensive rebound to put the Horsemen in front. The lead grew to double digits late in the first quarter and was 30-21 at the half.
Fouls were an issue all game for Robertson. Marr picked up his third foul early in the second quarter right around the time Stith got his second and headed to the Horsemen bench. The two were assigned to guard one another to start the game.
“Tonight, the plan was to shut him down, I think I did a pretty good job with that,” Stith said.
Marr turned the ball over eight times but did have a game high six assists. As both players sat for an extended time in the second quarter, the Cardinals rallied while St. Michael’s sputtered.
The Horsemen saw a 24-13 lead shrink to 26-20 on a Brian Rubin midrange jumper midway through the second quarter as the Horsemen went more than four minutes without scoring.
A human spark plug if there ever was one, Marr was clearly frustrated by his mounting fouls. At one point, he walked behind his team’s bench to gather himself. During a timeout late in the quarter, he drifted away from the team huddle to talk to one of the referees.
Marr said he had to lay off Stith on defense, which opened lanes for the already dangerous Stith to be even more of a problem. He continuously sliced through the heart of Robertson’s defense, although he did have three of his shots blocked in the third quarter by Cardinals big man Nathan Gonzales.
The 6-foot-6 junior swatted seven shots, had 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He, too, dealt with mounting fouls before eventually picking up his fifth in the fourth quarter.
With overwhelming size — some St. Michael’s rotations had the team’s shortest player taller than four of Robertson’s five guys — the Horsemen were able to dominate the glass. They had a 50-35 edge in rebounding, but a commanding 28-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
Robertson coach Adam Bustos called them “Trae Young assists,” a reference to the NBA star guard who often gets his teammates scoring opportunities by crashing the glass on hard drives that produce offensive rebounds and easy buckets.
“I get it, big team,” Bustos said. “They’re going to bang; I would do the same thing.”
Both coaches gave credit to the Cardinals for battling back after falling behind early on.
“The hardest part, I think, is you get down to a good team and it takes a lot of energy to get back into it,” Bustos said.
Montoya said the idea all game was to go slow and steady, to let his team’s overwhelming size create headaches for the Cardinals in the paint. Robertson had an answer for that in the second half. The Cardinals tied the game twice in the final four minutes of the third quarter but never went back in front.
A pair of free throws from McCoy put the Horsemen in front, 42-40, late in the period. He then threw down a dunk off a turnover with three minutes left in the game to open a 10-point lead and effectively end it.
The free throw struggles that wreaked havoc on the Horsemen in a semifinal win over Santa Fe Indian School weren’t quite as bad Saturday. The team missed 13 tries from the line, but one of the bright spots was Hunt’s 5-for-6 effort from the stripe as he finished with 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Only six Horsemen scored in the game as three Cardinals players — Marr, Gonzales and Rubin — fouled out. Marr’s fifth was a technical foul during a dead ball situation with 52 seconds remaining.
NOTES
Moving up the hardware ladder: Saturday’s title was the 13th for St. Michael’s, which ranks third among all New Mexico boys basketball teams. Hobbs has 17 and Hope Christian has 16. The Horsemen’s 24 finals appearances is the most in state history and their 36 trips to the semifinals is just one behind Hobbs for the top spot. … A handful of Cardinals dyed their hair before Saturday’s game. Marr, Diego Jaramillo, Sonnie Cruz, Micah Vigil and Michael Salazar either went all-in with blonde hair or sported frosted tips. … Robertson had three former players take part in the state tournament for other teams. Former starters were on the roster at Sandia and Cleveland, with a third nonstarter at Hope Christian.
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