Rams boys fall for fifth time in a row; at Cleveland Thursday

RIO RANCHO – There was a brief time Tuesday evening when it looked like the host Rio Rancho Rams were about to pull off an upset of the visiting No. 1 Volcano Vista Hawks on Senior Night in the RAC.

It didn’t turn out that way, though, for the Rams (12-13, 1-6 in District 1-5A), who lost their fifth game in a row, 64-51.

There were six lead changes in the Feb. 20 encounter, all in the first quarter, which ended with the Hawks (24-1, 7-0) ahead, 16-11.

At halftime the Hawks’ lead was eight, although the Rams had been down by a dozen before rattling off the last five points of the half.

“We’re gonna beat ’em,” RRHS assistant Ramon “Swoops” Montaño told those at the scorer’s table before the second half started.

A Rams’ turnover led to a layup by Hawks freshman David Lunn, giving VVHS a 37-27 lead.

Undaunted, the Rams battled back, closing to a 43-41 deficit before two free throws by Kenyon Aguino – his first points of the game – jump-started what became a 16-3 run to leave the Rams in the dust, 59-44.

Lunn and Aguino were saddled with two fouls apiece before the game was two minutes old and rode the bench for the rest of the first half. But the depth of the Hawks, with coach’s son Hudson Brown nailing a 3-pointer in each quarter and Rian Gonzales scoring a game-high 22 points – he had six treys – kept them near-perfect. Their only loss was to Cleveland in Hobbs in late December.

That 16-9 fourth-quarter advantage made the game look like a blowout, but, as RRHS coach Wally Salata said, there are no moral victories.

“We gave it our best effort – senior Night,” Salata said. “There’s positives. Again, there are no moral victories, but I thought the kids competed. … We had Aguino and Lunn in foul trouble. We took at least six or seven charges, which I’m very impressed with for our guys – it shows we can put a body in front.

“There’s a lot of positives it’s just that energy … we’ve got to play like that the rest of the year,” he said. “It’s our district, 1-5A: That’s the No. 1 team in the state. (And) we turned the ball over the first four possessions of the fourth quarter; if you’re going to make a run, you can’t do that.”

Josiah Marfil led the Rams with 17 points and a 6 for 6 outing at the foul line. Noah Montoya was 5 for 5 at the stripe, finishing with 14 points and even canned a 3-pointer.

“Noah Montoya played a really good game,” Salata said, after he started five of his six seniors against the Hawks.

As for the upcoming state tournament, and his team about to finish with a losing record, Salata said, “We’re flirting right now with 15, 16, 17 – we’re right there. We can’t lose out – we’ve got to win another game.

“We’ve got to go into Cleveland (Thursday) … I expect us to come out against Cleveland and play better. We’ve got to take care of the basketball, understand their main guys are Remy (Albrecht) and (Daniel) Steverson.”

The Storm have won 15 of the teams’ last 18 meetings, including their Feb. 6 meeting at the RAC. Game time Thursday in the Thunderdome is 7 p.m.