RIO RANCHO — From where the Rio Rancho Rams sat, there was nothing wrong with a quick home-cooked meal on vacation.
The Rio Rancho performed well in the Jalene Berger Allstate Holiday Hoops Classic, beating St. Pius 62-41 in Friday night’s championship game.
The Rams (8-4) won their three games this week by an average margin of 24.7 points.
“I wanted to send a statement tonight,” Rio Rancho coach Wally Salata said. “We gave up 41 points, but to do it to a very good basketball team, 7-3…they did it for 32 minutes. That was the excitement tonight.”
The Rams didn’t face any major challenges over the last three days. Not so for the Albuquerque Metro when his championship starts on Tuesday. Rio Rancho is in Cueva in the first round.
But the Rams’ defense solved a lot of the thorny issues as they pushed St. Pius (7-4) to 23 turnovers with quick feet and active hands, as they did in Thursday’s semifinal against Espanola. did.
“That’s a big thing for us,” said senior guard Jamal Bynum, who was named to the Rio Rancho All-Tournament Team. “We take pride in our defense.
Junior guard Jaden Johnson was named the most valuable player of the tournament. He scored his team-high 17 points in Friday’s win.
Bynum, perhaps the Rams’ best facilitator guard, said, “I wanted to send a statement not only to other teams, but to ourselves as well that we are a good team and can compete with the top teams in the state.
Rio Rancho scored 8 of the game’s opening 11 points on Friday and posted double-digit numbers in the final 2.5 quarters.
Guard Brian Kalb and power forward Gene Trujillo were two All-Tournament selections from St. Pius.
Kalb’s nine points led the Sultans on Friday night.
The Rams’ 6-foot-6 forward Maddox Presser added 16 points to Rio Rancho, who won his home tournament for the fourth year in a row.
“They understood what was at stake,” Salata said. “And beating my alma mater means a lot to me.”
OTHER TOURNAMENTS: The boys of Organ Mountain defeated Artesia 60-52 in the Hobbes Holiday Tournament at Tusker Arena on Friday. The Knights are off to a strong start with his 12-1 record. Their record is second only to the 11-0 Volcano Vista in Class 5A. Organ Mountain defeated Hobbs and Hyland in the first two rounds of the week. … Late Thursday, the #1 ranked Pecos boys in Class 2A defeated Bernalillo 65-51 in the finals of the Stu Clark Invitational in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
boys basketball
Friday
Rio Rancho Tournament
7th place match
Sandia Prep 67, Hope Christian 64
Sandia Prep (4-5): Miles Manzanares 4, Rylan Sears 4, Peyton Henderson 11, Logan Lemmons 1, Lucas Lemmons 14, Jacob Charlow 21, Alex Jeffries 12. Total 22 FG 22-29 FT
Hope Christian (5-4): Jett Wyckoff 23, Noah Perry 7, Ian Koenigsberg 3, Nathan Saavedra 10, Kayden Williams 3, Christian Schermerhorn 9, Derek Martinez 1, Brayden Giron 7, Xavier Otero 1. Total 25FG 8-14FT
Sandia Prep 12 18 16 21 — 67
Hope Christian 21 14 14 15 — 64
3P: SP 1 (Lucas Lemmons), HC 6 (Wyckoff 2, Perry, Konigsberg, Williams, Giron). Total fouls: SP 13, HC 24. Foul out: HC (Saavedra).
5th place match
Santa Fe High 57, El Paso Socorro 50
Santa Fe (6-5): Santi Montoya 14, Lucas Turner 25, Sam Lopez 2, Daniel Lopez 7, Joshua Trujillo 1, Rob Martinez 8. Total: 15 FG 20-24 FT
El Paso Socorro (9-8): Johnny Garcia 6, Isaiah Carvajal 6, Eric Reza 22, Alexis Gutierrez 7, Jordan Dominguez 7, Estaban Carter 2. Total: 20 FG 7-9 FT
Santa Fe. 17 14 10 16—57
Socorro 9 10 15 16—50
3P: SF 4 (Montoya 2, Turner 1, Martinez 1), EPS 3 (Reza 1, Gutierrez 1, Dominguez 1). Total fouls: SF 15, EPS 18. Fouls out: EPS (Ethan Wolfe)
3rd place match
RIO GRANDE 58, ESPAÑOLA VALLEY 30
RIO GRANDE (7-4): Jonah Lopez 11, Eliseo Velazquez 2, Jonathon Luquech 10, Adan Velazquez 3, Isaiah Lucero 12, Jacob Chavez 5, Santiago Gonzalez 15. Total: 23 FG 5-7 FT.
Espanola Valley (2-12): Francis Concepcion 2, Jayden Durand 6, Sieg Duda 8, Jadon Martinez 3, Marquez Martinez 6, Joshua Sandoval 4, Ervin Primero 1. Total 9 FG 8-11 FT.
Rio Grande 13 7 20 18—58
Espanola Valley 9 5 2 14—30
3P: RG 7 (Lopez 1, Lukesh 2, Lucero 2, Chavez 1, Gonzalez 1), EV 4 (Durán 2, J. Martinez 2). Total fouls: RG 12, EV 11.
championship game
Rio Rancho 62, St. Pius 41
Rio Rancho (8-4): Chris Lucero 2, Mikey Wood 5, Wyatt Rodriguez 2, Jerry Archuleta 8, Kevin Archuleta 6, Josiah Murphy 4, Jamal Bynum 2, Jaden Johnson 17, Maddox Presser 16. Total: 22 FG 12- 18 feet.
st. PIUS (7-4): Jason Montoya 7, Nick Rodriguez 3, Ethan Valencia 3, Kenneth Zamora 8, Brian Kalb 9, Cade Freeze 2, Gene Trujillo 5, Aidan Thomas 2. Total: 12 FG 12-17 FT.
Rio Rancho 14 12 15 21—62
St. Pius 6 8 8 19—41
3-point goals: RR 4 (J. Archuleta 2, Marfil 1, Johnson 1); SP 5 (Montoya 2, Rodriguez 1, Zamora 2). Total fouls: RR 17; SP17.
all scores
Alamogordo 45, Harmony Science Academy – El Paso, TX 43
Aztec 81, St. Michael, Arizona 59
Chaparral 44, EP Jefferson, Texas 31
Escalante 75, Navajo Pine 38
Farmington 67, Ferris, Texas 60
Highland 71, Spring Valley, NV 69
Mora 41, Santa Rosa 37
Mount Organ 60, Artesia 52
Rio Grande 58, Espanola Valley 30
Rio Rancho 62, St. Pius X 41
Sandia Prep 67, Hope Christian 64
Santa Fe 57, EP Socorro, Texas 50
girls basketball
Friday
all scores
Alamogordo 57, EP Immanuel, Texas 22
Aztec 34, St. Michael, Arizona 31
Escalante 64, Navajo Pine 16
Organ Mountain 64, Tucson, AZ IRHS, AZ 52
Piedra Vista 47, EP Parkland, TX 20
Santa Rosa 53, Raton 16
Springer 42, Logan 34
Texico 33, Capitan 29