State Basketball: Rio boys, Cleveland girls seasons end

It wasn't a joyous weekend for everyone. The RRHS boys basketball team and the Cleveland girls squad both fell in their first round matchups. BUT there is plenty of positives to take away and a lot to look forward to.

Rio boys fall to Matadors

SANDIA 71, RIO RANCHO 53

ALBUQUERQUE – The Rio Rancho High School boys Rams basketball team’s season came to an end on Saturday night at the hands of the three-seed Sandia Matadors, 71-53.

The 14-seed Rams put up a good fight and saw plenty of stellar performances. Senior Kevin Archuleta had 15 points and five rebounds. Noah Lovato had seven rebounds.

But the big Rams game came from freshman Dashon Bynum, whose 16 points and six rebounds kept RRHS in the game.

It was a rollercoaster season for the Rams, who came out of the gate hot, winning 10 of their first 12 games and vaulting into the top of the New Mexico rankings. But they cooled off in the middle of the season and finished with a 15-13 record, good for fifth in 5A-1.

Cleveland girls lose heartbreaker

FARMINGTON 56, CLEVELAND 48

FARMINGTON – The 13-seed Cleveland Storm girls went north for the first round of the State Championship tournament and lost a tight contest 56-48 to the 4-seed Farmington Scorpions.

On the offensive side, Danae Elzy was the top scorer with 11 points. The Winter sisters, KC and Erin, were also team leaders with 10 and nine points, respectively.

Defensively, Malia Mose was a monster, with seven steals and five rebounds (four of them defensive rebounds).

Unfortunately, the big night wasn’t quite enough to pull off the win and the Storm season comes to an end. Their final record was 13-15 and they ended up placing fourth in the 5A-1.