Bears topple Rams, take Holiday Hoops trophy

LA CUEVA 67, RIO RANCHO 63

RIO RANCHO – It was a very happy birthday for La Cueva head coach Eric Orell on Saturday as his Bears defeated their hosts, the Rio Rancho Rams, 67-63 in the championship game of the Holiday Hoops Tournament at RRHS.

“It was just what I wanted for my birthday,” Coach Orell said after the game. “I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season with these guys.”

It turns out Coach Orell is a difficult man to shop for, as the win was no easy feat for the Bears.

The game began as an even matchup. What the Rams lacked in size; they made up for in energy. It was a fast-paced quarter with Rams big-man Chris Lucero attacking from the outside and Bears big-man Hunter Butler hitting the boards and using his size to drive to the basket on offense.

At the end of the first, the score stood at 18-18.

The second half saw the Bears begin to pull away and take control of the game. They leaned heavily on their size to force fouls in the paint and spent much of the second quarter at the foul line.

The Rams looked like they may be falling apart.

Then a steal from RRHS senior Kevin Archuleta led to a quick, last second basket from Tyshaun Williams that put the Rams within striking distance and tipped momentum in their favor heading into the half.

The score at halftime was 36-31.

The momentum shift seemed to hold up through the halftime break. The Rams came out of the gate on fire. Rams junior Jordan McNeely scrambled for two loose balls and gave his team three straight possessions to start the quarter. The string of offense brought the Rams back to within one point of tying the match.

That’s when Butler decided enough was enough. The 6-foot, 2-inch junior grabbed a crowd-pleasing alley-oop to grab momentum back for the Bears.

“We are a young team and young teams are going to make mistakes,” said Orell of his team's momentary lapse. “But we grew up, and that’s the key. And I said it was going to take some time [for the team to gel] and you’re really starting to see some of that happening.”

In an odd twist, the third quarter ended much like the second, only in reverse. This time, Williams came up with the steal and Archuleta put down the basket to finish the third quarter with a 53-49 score and the Bears still in the lead.

The Rams gave it everything they had in the fourth and even took the lead for a short time when Cayden Richardson opened the quarter with four immediate points and put the score at 54-53.

It took a few minutes for La Cueva to get their heads back in the game, but Drew Bramlett eventually took control for the Bears, using his speed to draw fouls and break past Rio Rancho’s full-court defense.

“I just made sure to bring everyone together,” said Bramlett. “Usually in those moments, people tend to spread out and do their own thing, so we just had to come together.”

The final two minutes of the game were a matter of clock management as Orell used his timeouts to maintain possession until the final 11 seconds.

“We knew we just had one more game and we had to get it done,” said Bramlett. “We just trusted coach's game plan and got it done.”

McNeely fouled with point-6 seconds left, but the game was already over, and the Bears took the first-place trophy with a 67-63 win.

“It was just about getting [the Bears] to calm down and remember that WE control the game. We don’t need to go to them. They can come to use,” said Orell.

After the game, the trophies were presented, along with several individual awards. La Cueva’s Tony Trujillo and Drew Bramlett won All-Tournament honors.

Hunter Butler, who had numerous poster-worthy dunks and splash plays throughout the tournament, was named the Holiday Hoops MVP.

“It feels great, it wasn’t just me though. It was the whole team,” said Butler after the awards ceremony. “We were really looking for a big win and this was really it.”