Rams boys routed in opener by visiting Valley

RIO RANCHO – It had been a long time since his Rams had been blown out by almost 30 points, Rio Rancho High School boys basketball coach Wally Salata surmised after his team’s78-50 whipping by defending Class 4A champ Valley the evening of Nov. 29.

Yes, it has been a while, coach: Two years ago, on Nov. 23, 2021, the Rams lost by 29 points (68-39) at Amarillo High.

The Rams were in the game for a little while, with their last lead at 9-8 and only trailing by a touchdown, 22-15, after the first period, thanks to the Vikings’ 13-2 run to erase that deficit.

By halftime, the Vikings had a comfortable 52-35 edge, and whatever Salata said in the locker room at halftime didn’t help the Rams’ cause: They managed only two free throws in the entire quarter, and after their last field goal of the first half, the Vikings pounded in 11 field goals, including a few 3s, to widen the gap.

Salata always counts quarters won as a factor in his game; the Rams took the fourth quarter, 13-11.

There was something the Rams did well until the final quarter: They sank their first 13 free throw attempts and finished 19 of 27 at the charity stripe.

Veterans Jerry Archuleta and Kevin Archuleta, brothers only on the court, each scored 10 points to lead the Rams.

Valley senior guard Tyler Kozlowski, the son of former Vikings standout Donny Kozlowski – a long-time friend of Salata’s and a kid he’d known since infancy – was unstoppable in the first half, when he scored all of his game-high 22 points.

“They went to a zone,” Salata said of the third-quarter problems. “And we were 0 for 7 the third quarter; we were 2 of 15 at one time.

“A lot of things (were problematical),” he said, alluding to the absence of the team’s best player, senior Jayden Johnson, injured in practice earlier in the week. “Who’s the next guy to step up? And we didn’t have that. It’s a team effort. We said, ‘Team effort tonight.’ We didn’t have that.

“Three days of practice; six new guys playing varsity basketball – these aren’t excuses, these are the facts,” Salata continued. “(Valley’s) a very good basketball team. They have everybody back form last year, so they’re seasoned; we’re not.”

He didn’t expect any changes, knowing Johnson wouldn’t play in the Dec. 2 game at Clovis but might be good to go for the City of Champions tournament in Artesia next weekend.

“I’m not gonna change how we play defense. Yeah, we gave up a lot of points, but we didn’t give up as many in the second half, but we gotta score,” he said, then pointed to his team’s shooting from long range: 3 of 22 form behind the arc, while the Vikings were 10 of 21.

“That’s not gonna cut it,” he said. “We tell them, ‘If you’re not hitting a 3, drive to the basket, get a closer shot.’

“It’s work in progress: This is a work in progress; it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

In addition to playing better on the court, the Rams seem to have a team chemistry problem, Salata concluded.

“We have attitude issues; we have to fix that,” he said. “I’m not afraid to tell them. We’ve got guys that, when things go wrong, start looking around. … It’s one loss; it’s one game. When Jayden comes back, we’re as different team.”

Ram dunks: The varsity victory gave the visitors a sweep of the Rams:

• In the opener, the freshman contest, VHS won 57-48; Remi Smith led the youngest Rams with 13 points.
• In the junior varsity game, perhaps an open for the varsity contest, Valley won 83-43; Noah Lovato led RRHS with 15 points, Jordan McNeely had 14, and Jacob Jones and Davi Santistevan added 12 apiece.

… The Rams’ next home game is at 7 p.m. on Dec. 21, when Rio Grande — one of Salata’s former coaching stops — visits.