Storm sweep Centennial Hawks in Thunderdome

First-team All-State receiver on the gridiron Nic Trujillo plays defense on this Saturday in-bounds play by Centennial. Trujillo scored eight points in the decisive fourth quarter, and the Storm boys held on for a 72-71 victory. (Herron photo)

The Cleveland High School boys and girls basketball teams won their games Saturday afternoon against visiting Centennial.

First, the girls came back from a poor first half to take the second half by a 32-19 count and thus the game, 54-46.

Then the boys did the opposite, cruising to a 15-ppint lead at halftime (47-32), and them somehow holding off the Hawks, 72-71, as a Centennial player wasn’t aware of the final buzzer about to sound and instead of passing to a teammate for a possible game-tying trey, opted for a layup and a one-point loss at the buzzer.

GIRLS’ GAME

Storm 54, Hawks 46: Kindyll Sandoval led the way with 17 points, with three 3s, and Au8brey Jaramillo also had a trio of treys on her way to 16 points.

The Storm (7-4) survived an 11-0 second-quarter run by the Hawks, and, after trailing 38-35 heading into the final quarter, led No. 6 Centennial to 11 points while scoring 16 of their own, with five each from Jaramillo and Savannah Madueno.

It was close to the same score from Friday night, a 54-45 Mayfield win over the Storm in Las Cruces.

BOYS’ GAME

Storm 72, Hawks 71: Football star Nic Trujillo scored 8 points in the final quarter, and grabbed a few key rebounds, as the Storm (5-1) held on for their hoops lives.

Trailing early 2-1 and then 4-1, the Storm led the rest of the game – including by double digits from early in the second stanza until 2:04 remained in the third quarter and the lead was 59-51.

Centennial kept chipping away, and 11 seconds after a Cleveland timeout, Trujillo’s layup gave the Storm breathing room, 72-67.

The Hawks came back with a layup of their own, and Cleveland coach Sean Jimenez called a timeout with 17 ticks left in regulation and the Hawks holding the ball. That led to the gaffe at game’s end, a 2-point play instead of a 3-point attempt.

Trujillo finished with 14 points – 12 in the second half, and Daniel Steverson, with 13, and Remy Albrecht, with 11, joined him in double figures.

The storm may have been suffering from wariness, after their 64-59 win at Mayfield Friday night.

After sinking four of their first six shots from behind the arc, the Storm missed their last 17 3-point attempts. Centennial missed its last 10 after a 4-of-5 streak in the first half.