LAS CRUCES - Mesilla Valley Christian Schools' boys basketball team entered last weekend's VFW boys basketball tournament in Alamogordo just looking to compete and get ready for the rest of the season. The Class 2A power had never beaten a Class 5A school in Terry Adler's four years as head coach at the school. But in one weekend, the SonBlazers beat 5A schools from Houston, Phoenix and Albuquerque to not only compete, but win the tournament.

The SonBlazers are 11-0 after beating Houston Memorial, Albuquerque Highland and Phoenix Carl Hayden at the VFW.

"This tournament is right behind the state championship in 2007," said Adler, who is 93-9 at the school. "I don't believe there has been another New Mexico 2A school to beat three powerful 5A teams to win a 5A tournament." MVCS heads into another tough tournament on Thursday at Santa Rosa where Class 2A contenders Tularosa, Bosque and NMMI will be in attendance.

"We were really happy to win (the VFW)," SonBlazers senior forward Scott Adler said. "It was solid wins for us. We've never been in a 5A tournament before so now we have to focus on the Santa Rosa tournament and the teams that we are going to play there." SonBlazers guard Cody Correa had a career-high 34 points in a 67-59 win over Memorial High.

"I had 15 free throws so it was mostly just getting to the line," Correa said. "I didn't notice during the game but after the game, parents came up and told me that I had a good game."

The SonBlazers advanced to take on a Highland team that is currently 9-2 with wins over La Cueva and Rio Rancho.

MVCS jumped out on Highland 11-2 but trailed 29-27 at halftime and were down one going into the fourth quarter.

A 10-2 run created a cushion and the SonBlazers led by as many as 11, going on to win 50-45. "It was a learning experience because we turned the ball over a lot and they creeped closer and closer but we figured out how to take care of the ball," Correa said.

The SonBlazers moved to 11-0 on the season with a 59-47 win over Carl Hayden in the championship. "It was just a neat experience to be at that level," SonBlazers forward Kyle Vasey said. "We always wondered how we would do against those kinds of teams and to get the opportunity to do it and perform well was pretty neat."

Scott Adler and Correa are two of five seniors that the SonBlazers lean on. "This team flat-out plays exceptional defense and rebounds extremely well," Terry Adler said. "There is a lot of character on this team starting with our senior group. There is no quit in them and they show it." Scott Adler is averaging 14 points, six assists and five rebounds while Correa is scoring 14 per game and shooting the 3 at a 45 percent clip on the season.

There have also been a number of new players who have contributed, helping the SonBlazers outscore their opponents by 27-points-per game. Forward Marcus Krohn is scoring eight per game to go with seven rebounds and junior post Sean Harris scored 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds against Highland.

Playing against big schools over the weekend helped the SonBlazers adjust to a higher level of athleticism and different styles of play to get ready to play the top 2A teams down the road. "Carl Hayden was more half court, Highlands was up-tempo and Memorial kind of switched it up a lot," Correa said. "Texico will play more of a half court game and Tularosa will play fast. It was important for us to learn how to control the tempo and make them play uncomfortable."

The SonBlazers have shown that they can win in the postseason before and tournaments like last weekend and this weekend will only strengthen their case as one of the top teams in New Mexico regardless of classification.

Jason Groves can be reached at jgroves@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5459 Back to the Sun News Here