James Yodice: It's been a difficult prep hoops season, yet we forge ahead - Albuquerque Journal

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From left, officials Candace Aragon, Curtis Vigil and Cory Collins confer during a break in the action at a recent Sandia Prep-Bosque game. Officials have been overworked this season, at least locally. (Mike Sandoval/For the Journal)

The prep basketball season is turning for home, with two things abundantly clear.

First, it appears as though we are on target to reach March 12 without any major, across-the-board disruptions having jack-knifed either the regular season or playoffs. As tiresome as COVID-19 is, and for as many ways it needles at our patience, that qualifies the 2021-22 season as a success.

And for the first time since 2019, on championship Saturday, the final day of the season, the Pit will be able to accommodate as many fans as there are seats in the building. This is welcome news for everyone. How refreshing it would be to hear the Pit at full throat for a state tournament game. That has been sorely missed.

So in one sense, it can be truthfully said the glass is half full. And there is plenty to be thankful for.

However, it can be accurately stated that the glass is also half empty.

It would be an outright falsehood to suggest that this season hasn’t been messy – even tragic – on any number of levels, and that there remain some potentially uncomfortable days ahead.

COVID-19 has caused game forfeitures, postponements and schedule interruptions. Players and coaches have fallen ill and been sidelined. Leonard Torrez, the 37-year-old girls basketball coach at Mesa Vista, died from COVID last month. As did his father, Leo, an assistant coach. They died on consecutive days, breaking the heart of the Trojans’ community. It was a terrible reminder that in some ways, COVID is entrenched behind the wheel.

Some schools shut down or went virtual. At least one district for sure – Menaul’s 2-2A – won’t have a district tournament, as it needs that week to get some other games rescheduled. Others may follow suit, as they have been given that option in this exceptional season.

Fans have been either banned or limited to some degree during the season. And there’s no promise that the coronavirus won’t rear its ugly head some more in the next four weeks with schools feeling the pain and possibly having to forfeit out of the postseason.

Then there is the plight of the put-upon officials, many of whom are simply overworked as New Mexico – like just about every state, to be fair – tries to recruit and retain enough men and women to replenish the ranks.

“We’re exhausted,” one longtime local official told me a couple of weeks ago. This refrain is familiar.

I spoke to probably half a dozen familiar faces among the officials in the central region (re: the metro area) over the last couple of weeks; not a single one of them said anything other than this season has been incredibly taxing on them physically. Many are working roughly 25-30% more games than usual. One official estimated the number of games worked at 75 so far this season, as opposed to the 50 that would normally be the case by mid-February.

The reasons, of course, are simple. There are not enough to go around, and more than a few games have had to be shuffled around the calendar as a result. Too often, crews are having to work back-to-back games (far from ideal), even three consecutive games in rare instances, according to one veteran official.

It comes down to this: men and women are either reluctant to give officiating a try, or, for the ones that do try, too few are sticking around long enough. New Mexico Activities Association commissioner of officials Zac Stevenson told me that the number of basketball officials are up in the state from last season (by about 100, from 520 to 614), but down (by about 85) since the pandemic began two years ago.

Sportsmanship remains a thorny problem in general, and particularly for referees, the large majority of whom only do this as a side gig to begin with.

At the recent Farmington-La Cueva girls game, something extraordinary happened. The La Cueva public address announcer, in the middle of the game, took a specific Farmington fan to task for poor behavior, and did it with a hot mic, so everyone could hear. Many officials have had their fill of spectator idiocy. And who could blame them?

And, lest we forget, the second week of the state tournament, for the third straight year, will be altered in a negative way. And it’s not just the players and teams that are going to feel this pinch.

There will be only three days of basketball in the Pit (March 10-12) instead of five, as it will host only semifinals and championship games. The first round and quarterfinals will be contested on campus sites. Although, it is fantastic that we will be back to 16-team fields this March, after the eight-team fields in the abbreviated season of 2021.

As of now, and following the University of New Mexico’s lead since it is UNM’s venue, fans who want to attend state tournament games at the Pit will have to present proof-of-vaccination cards, or proof of a negative COVID test, to partake. This policy will only extend to games at the Pit, and not Bernalillo High or the Rio Rancho Events Center.

So yes, it’s been a bumpy ride, to be sure. And there could be more bobbles in the road in the weeks to come. But we are forging ahead. And there is always strength in moving forward.

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