Local players set for 1A/2A All-Star Game

Three area players will get a chance today to add another win to state-championship high school careers.

Dora graduates Matt Carpenter and Chris Rolston, along with Adrian Loera of Texico, are set to represent the South in the 25th annual Class 1A/2A North-South All-Star Game.

The game is set for a 6 p.m. tipoff at The Pit in Albuquerque.

Rolston and Carpenter were starters on a Coyotes team that ended the 2002-03 season with 23-straight wins and its first state basketball championship since 1970.

Carpenter, a 6-foot-1 post, was Dora’s leading scorer while the 5-foot-7 Rolston led the Coyotes in assists.

Loera, meanwhile, was a member of Texico’s Class 2A state championship team in 2001. Loera was a sophomore on that team. Wolverines coach Richard Luscombe said that Loera didn’t play a lot of minutes that season, but felt the team’s success “helped him quite a bit” in his next two years.

“Adrian was easy to work with,” Luscombe said. “He did everything I asked him to do and played hard. Obviously, he did things well enough to draw attention of the other coaches who voted him in.”

The South will be coached by Tom Sanchez of Dexter High School, while the North is led by Tony Dinallo of Navajo Prep.

The North leads the series 18-6, and won last year’s contest 92-80.