District 1-5A tournament starts Tuesday for Cleveland girls; Rams home Wednesday

Not only did she lead all the players in scoring Friday evening, but Rams senior Makenna Lee (24) also played some good defense, coming out to challenge a shot by CHS’s Savannah Madueno. (Herron photo)

RIO RANCHO – The No. 10 Rio Rancho High School girls’ basketball team wrapped up second place in District 1-5A Friday evening, beating visiting Cleveland in the RAC.

It gave the Rams (18-8, 6-2) a three-game sweep of the Storm (13-13, 4-4), who finished third in district, this season. The two met in Santa Fe back on Dec. 2, a 54-40 Rams win, to determine the champion of the Bobby Rodriguez tournament.

The District 1-5A tournament begins today, Feb. 26, with last-place Cibola at Atrisco Heritage Academy. That game’s winner visits Cleveland Tuesday, with that game’s winner headed to Rio Rancho High School for the semifinal contest Wednesday.

Volcano Vista (20-5, 8-0) hosts the district title game Friday at 7 p.m. The Hawks have won the regular-season 1-5A crown six seasons in a row, going undefeated the last five; they last lost a 1-5A contest back on Feb. 20, 2019, a 33-32 loss in the RAC.

Rio Rancho 55, Cleveland 29: The Rams scored the game’s first 10 points, six by senior Makenna Lee, and were never threatened.

Rio Rancho had a double-digit lead, 20-3, at the end of the first quarter, and led by12 the rest of the way.

The Rams capitalized on nine first-period turnovers by the Storm, who managed just one field goal in the first and fourth quarters.

Lee led the way with 26 points, all on 2-point field goals, and Lilly Martinez had 15. Kindyll Sandoval led the Storm with 16 points, with 11 of their 14 first-half points. And also connected on CHS’s only 3-pointer.

Volcano Vista 50, Rio Rancho 41: On the evening of Feb. 21, the Rams stayed close to the host Hawks in the Ring of Fire, trailing 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.

But VVHS closed out the first half on a 15-0 run and weren’t threatened again.

Madi Martinez led the Rams with 16 points.

Cleveland 71, Cibola 39: Also on Feb. 21, the host Storm had no problem disposing of the visiting Cougars, as Savannah Madueno went off for 27 points, Sandoval added 17 and Noelle Manzanares, back form an injury, joined them in double figures with 11.

The victory made for a successful Senior Night and kept the Storm in the running to finish second in the district – if they could beat the Rams two nights later. That didn’t happen.

Dribbles: The Class 5A state tournament bracket will be released Sunday. The Rams and Storm should make the 16-team field, each with road games in the first round next week.