Albrecht keys 4th-quarter rally to beat La Cueva

Cleveland High’s Angelo Brito (22) keeps an eye on La Cueva point guard Cam Dyer, who led the Bears to the Class 6A state title over the Storm in November; he was later named the Gatorade Player of the year for the state in that sport and, also on Jan. 16, passed the DECA test and qualified for the state competition. Photo by Joe Grimando)

ALBIUQUERQUE – The Cleveland High School boys’ basketball game at La Cueva the evening of Jan. 16 couldn’t be termed a “must-win” type of game, but it was against a quality foe on its home court.

And although the Storm had won their last two meetings with the No. 7 Bears (7-5) – last year’s game at the Thunderdome and their Jan. 10 APS Metro semifinal – nobody would classify La Cueva as a pushover.

And for most of this encounter, the Bears had the upper hand.

It basically turned out to be a 2-minute and 22-second contest, because that’s the last time the teams were tied. From that 59-all scored, the Storm ran off a 10-3 run to win it.

La Cueva held a 9- point lead late in the third quarter, and then Storm junior Remy Albrecht took over, scoring 15 of his game-high 25 in the fourth quarter, won by Cleveland, 24-11.

During one stretch in the second half rally, Albrecht hit four 3-pointers in a row, three in the decisive fourth period.

After La Cueva’s Dylan Chavez sank two free throws, tying the game for the last time at 59, the Storm went on run, with a Chavez 3 accounting for the Bears’ final points.

Daniel Steverson scored 24 points for CHS, and his eighth-grade brother Darius came off the bench to add 12, including a layup off a long pass for a 5-point lead late.

“My team kept believing in me, telling me to keep shooting,” Albrecht said. “And it started going in.”

“It” hadn’t been going in for the game’s first half; Albrecht’s 3 in the first minute gave CHS a 3-2 lead; the Storm’s last lead of the first half was 8-6, and they didn’t lead again till an Albrecht layup made it 55-54 with about five minutes left in the game.

He was shooting, but he was missing, missing his next three 3-point shots of the half – and then made four of his five attempts from beyond the arc in the second half.

“It’s just another (win),” Albrecht said. “We’re gonna keep going – this is just the beginning. … Daniel was doing great in the first half; he was playing defense; he was moving everywhere. The ball was coming to me on my 3-point shot; I was making it.”

Chavez led the Bears (7-5) with 15, Cam Dyer had 14 — but only three after halftime, and Brandon Bartlett added 12.

By game’s end, the Storm had eleven 3s to just three for the Bears. Another stat in the Storm’s favor: turnovers, in which they had 8 to 16 for La Cueva.

Cleveland gets another test Thursday (Jan. 18) at 7, when Sandia visits the Thunderdome.