Prep Outlook: Tournaments, tournaments, and more tournaments

It’s a big weekend across several different sports. Some teams are heading out of state, going as far as Oklahoma. Others are staying home, but have packed schedules regardless.

This week’s outlook includes TWO Metro tournaments for two different sports!

Here’s what to know.

Basketball

It’s time for the APS Metro Championships. By now, the first rounds are over, and the semifinals and finals are about to begin.

Even so, here’s what to know:

The first rounds will be played at various high schools, while the semifinals and finals will take place at La Cueva.

For the boys, the third-place game will tip off at 2 p.m. and the championship will begin at 6 p.m.

For the girls, the third-place game will begin at noon and the championship will tip off at 4 p.m.

Heading into Metros, the Cleveland boys were coming off a loss. BUT it was to number 2 Hobbs and they still had an impressive 8-2 record that included a six-game winning streak to open the season.

The Rio Rancho boys are arguably the Cinderella story of the season so far and entered Metros with an 8-2 record. Like their northern Rio Rancho brothers, the Rams lost to Hobbs. They also took a tough, last-minute defeat to La Cueva on Dec. 28.

The Rams are ranked 12th in the state, but here’s their little secret: they have five of the top 10 players in the state (according to the NMAA) in points-per-32 minutes (PP32).

3. Noah Lovato (sophomore forward) — 20.9 PP32

7. Jordan McNeely (junior shooting guard) — 17.8 PP32

8. Kevin Archuleta (senior guard) — 17.2 PP32

9. Cayden Richardson (junior forward) — 16.1 PP32

10. Chris Lucero (junior guard) — 16 PP32

In 5A only, the Rams have a staggering eight of the top 10 players in the state in PP32.

On the girls side, the Cleveland Storm had a tough trip to Las Cruces recently that added two extra losses to their record and they stood at 6-4 heading into Metros. However, they got back to their winning ways in 2025 with a 64-36 trouncing of Capital on Jan. 2.

The Storm are ranked 21st in the state, according to MaxPreps, but have a decent strength-of-schedule and might prove to be a tough out this weekend.

The Rio Rancho Rams girls are certainly in contention to take the Metro title. With an 8-2 record, including a three-game winning streak heading into the APS tournament, and a 2nd-place trophy from the recent Mel Otero tournament, the Rams will be expecting to make some waves. Afterall, one of those losses was to the top-ranked Sandia Matadors.

The Rams girls are ranked sixth in the state, the highest of the four RRPS squads and have a Top Ten point guard leading them in junior Lilly Martinez (ranked sixth in the state according to the NMAA.)

Admission to the APS Metro Championship tournament is $5 and the games start at La Cueva at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 10.

Wrestling

Well, it was quite the “conflict at Cleveland” this past weekend, but the Rams and Storm aren’t finished yet. They have another big weekend ahead of them.

The Rio Rancho girls are heading East for the Moriarty Tournament, while the Storm girls are heading West to Peoria, Arizona to compete in the Peoria Girls Invite.

The Storm boys will be joining the ladies in Peoria for the Peoria Tournament of Champions. At the same time, the Rio boys will be making the longest trip, to Geary, Oklahoma for the Geary Invite.

All the action and results for all of the tournaments can be found at TrackWrestling.com.

Swimming & Diving

Basketball isn’t the only sport going to their APS Metro Championships this weekend. The swimming and diving teams are off to compete as well.

The girls tournament starts this weekend, Jan. 11 at 8 a.m. at the West Mesa Aquatic Center. The boys tournament takes place next weekend, Jan. 18.

Order of events:

200 yd/m medley relay

200 yd/m freestyle

200 yd/m individual medley

50 yd/m freestyle

1m diving

100 yd/m butterfly

100 yd/m freestyle

500 yd/400 m freestyle

200 yd/m freestyle relay

100 yd/m backstroke

100 yd/m breaststroke

400 yd/m freestyle relay