Phil Griego led the St. Pius X girls basketball team to three state championships and 13 district titles over his 23 years coaching at the school. He died Aug. 22, 2021, from a combination of COVID-19 and leukemia. He was 60.

“He was an unbelievably great human being,” SPX teacher Kevin Hillsey told the Albuquerque Journal. Hillsey was Griego’s assistant coach at St. Pius X for 21 seasons. “He was my best friend. His passing leaves a hole in my heart and a void that is going to be hard to replace.”

Griego’s SPX teams won state championships in 2006, 2008 and 2009. His daughters Amy Ratliff ’07 and Jessica Tafoya ’04 played for him at St. Pius X and he coached his son Eric Griego at Cibola High School, where he coached for eight years before his run at SPX.

“Just by his record, you knew he was a tremendous coach,” Hillsey said. “He had such an innate feel for the game. He was not afraid to take some chances where others might not. But as good a coach as he was, he was an even better person. You don’t get many friends like that in your life.”

‘Griego left St. Pius X after the 2018-2019 season. He spent the past three seasons as the head boys JV basketball coach at V. Sue Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho.

Griego graduated from New Mexico Highlands University with a bachelor’s degree in 1983 and began work in Human Resources for the Department of Energy, where he continued working for 36 years.

Griego is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Rosalie; his children Eric and wife Sandra Griego, Jessica ’04 and husband Michael Tafoya, and Amy ’07 and husband Anthony Ratliff; grandchildren Liana Griego-Ratliff, Ethan Tafoya, Eli Griego and Easton Tafoya; mother Tarcila (Tafoya) Griego; and siblings Kenny Griego, Danny Griego, Diane Nakos, Michael Griego, Judith Carrillo, Patricia Trujillo.