Rams girls beat Storm, head to VVHS Friday at 7

RIO RANCHO – What a game!

The Cleveland High School girls’ basketball team visited Rio Rancho the evening of Feb. 28 in the District 1-5A tournament semifinal.

Even though the Rams had won the first three meetings, by an average of almost 15 points, this encounter went beyond the proverbial wire – as in overtime, and a 50-48 Rams W.

The Rams got 7 points from senior Makenna Lee in the four-minute OT, after she managed only 9 through the first four quarters, including the game-winning putback with 7 seconds left in OT.

“They really brought it today,” Lee, planning to attend BYU next year, said of the Storm (14-15). “They just threw the whole kitchen sink at us. … We really kinda scrambled there at the end; we had a hard time keeping our composure a little bit. We figured it out.”

The game was tied eight times, the last at 48-all after the Rams squandered what had been their second five-point lead in OT.

With 23.9 seconds left, RRHS’s Lilly Martinez made a free throw for a deadlock at 48, but missed the go-ahead freebie, and the Storm got the ball when the rebound went out of play.

But an offensive turnover with 17 seconds to go gave the ball back to the Rams, setting the stage for Lee’s heroics. Cleveland had one last-gasp shot at the rim but missed and the Reams move into the championship game tomorrow night at 7 in the Ring of Fire at first-place Volcano Vista.

“Three years of my life,” RRHS coach Lori Mabrey said, laughing, as she explained how the OT felt.

“I thought our team … all kinda got on their own page and what they wanted to do. They weren’t working together, and it created a lot of chaos for us in clutch moments of the game.

“I think that was a great game for us to learn from though,” Mabrey said. “We haven’t been pushed down the stretch like that.”

“I felt like we really competed hard,” CHS coach Susan Kubala said. “The game came down to some unforced turnovers down the stretch as well as not being able to knock down some free throws.

“The girls played extremely hard and I am extremely proud of their effort.

Having Kindyll (Sandoval — hurt and out of the game with 2:57 left in the fourth quarter) go down really hurt us because she always leads us through crucial points in the game.

“I am also extremely proud how resilient our group has been this year,” Kubala said, unsure then of her team’s postseason fate. “We have had a slew of injuries and illness hit our varsity this year — and our girls just keep fighting.”

Jemmah Estrada joined Lee in double figures with 10 points before fouling out with 1:20 left in the fourth period.

Savannah Madueno led the Storm with 13 points; Jaslene Big Crow and Noelle Manzanares had 10 apiece.

Cleveland 57, Atrisco Heritage Academy 38: The Storm finished third in 1-5A this season, and beat the fourth-place Jaguars on Feb. 27 in the Thunderdome.

AHA (9-19) advanced after a 48-39 win over the last-place Cibola Cougars, who lost their last 25 games of the season.

The Storm had a double-digit lead, 27-16, lead at halftime and cruised the rest of the way.

Madueno led CHS with 24 points, Manzanares had 13 and Sandoval chipped in with 10.