King of the Hill: Rams win big in season opener

RIO RANCHO 80, LOS ALAMOS 30

RIO RANCHO — The boys basketball season kicked off Nov. 26 when the Rio Rancho Rams (1-0) traveled to Los Alamos (0-1) and defeated the Hilltoppers by 50 points with a final score of 80-30.

"For our first game, we had a lot of new varsity players, and it's good to get the first one out of the way," said Rams head coach Wally Salata. "We won all four quarters, which is something we preach. If you can win every quarter, you're going to win the game.

The Rams took command of the game early on, and the Hilltoppers found themselves down 33-22 at halftime.

However, it was 31-point third quarter charge by the Rams that all but sealed a victory.

"We weren't hitting 3s in the first half; we were 2-12. I told them [that] we weren't shooting a 3 in the second half, which we didn't. We got layups and free throws," Salata said.

The Rams' defense looked disciplined in press and made great traps all game; they only allowed eight points in the second half. Guards Wyatt Rodriguez and Hayden Bedoe led the way with six steals each. Tyshaun Williams, Zeke Chavez and Jordan McNeely had five steals a piece; forward Noah Lovato also had a nice day as a sticky defender.

Leading the way in the Rams' scoring department was senior guard Kai Bradford with 19 points. Lovato — the only sophomore on the team — was second in scoring with 16 points.

Bringing the Rams' bench to its feet was forward Cayden Richardson, who got vertical and slammed a ball through the net for a night-capping dunk. Richardson had a nice night with 11 rebounds and eight points.

"We got work to do. We got a good Clovis team coming up on Saturday and we got a few days to practice, but I like the way that we started," Salata said.

The Rams' home debut is 3:30 p.m. Nov. 30 against the Clovis Wildcats.