ALBUQUERQUE -- The Santa Fe Indian School girls basketball team still may wake up Wednesday morning with the swagger of a two-time defending Class AAA champion.

One thing the Lady Braves won't roll out of bed with is the District 5AAA lead.

That much was certain after the top-ranked Albuquerque Hope Christian Lady Huskies claimed a 49-43 victory in jam-packed Barry Ehlert Gymnasium.

Hope improves to 22-3 overall and 6-1 in the district, one game ahead of SFIS (19-6, 5-2) and St. Michael's (18-6, 5-2). The Lady Huskies play host to St. Michael's on Friday night with a chance to nail down the regular season title and the top seed in next week's 5AAA tournament.

More to the point, they can end most of the debate about who deserves the overall top seed when pairings for the AAA state tournament are released later this month.

"That's true, but the last time we beat [SFIS] we turned around and lost to St. Mike's," Hope guard Kasey Howington said. "Coach reminded us about that."

"We can celebrate [Tuesday night], but that's it," said Lady Huskies guard Marissa Perry. "After this it's time to focus on what we have left, and that's one game to win district."

Should St. Michael's complete the regular season sweep of Hope and SFIS win its final game, it would create a rare three-team log jam atop 5AAA.

"I'm not even sure what the tiebreaker is, and I'd rather not even have to deal with it," said Hope head coach Terry Heisey. "I'll leave that up to [the media]."

Howington and Perry each had 19 points to lead Hope. Lee had a team-high 15 for the Lady Braves.

"It was just a heavyweight fight between two really good teams," Heisey said. "I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll have one of these."

Contact Will Webber at 986-3060 or wwebber@sfnewmexican.com