Rio Rancho, Cleveland seasons come to an end

The Rams, who battled through an endless array of injuries and maladies throughout the 2012-13 season, were ousted from the Class 5A girls state basketball tournament on Friday night, 63-48, at No. 7 seed Eldorado.

No. 10 seed Rio Rancho finishes 12-17, a record that is deceiving as the Rams played one of the hardest schedules of any 5A program, including seven games against the teams seeded 1-2-3 in this year’s 5A playoffs.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” senior guard Ally Salata said, her eyes damp. “At the sound of that buzzer, my heart just dropped.”

The 10th-seeded Rams played with the Eagles for three quarters.

It was a six-minute stretch to open the second quarter that separated the teams.

Eldorado had a 15-0 run to begin that quarter after Rio Rancho led 11-10 after the opening eight minutes.

Rio Rancho coach Pat Puentes burned a couple of timeouts and tried to find a solution to Eldorado’s momentum, but was unable to stop the Eagles’ rush.

Eldorado’s Abby Roney blocks the shot of Rio Rancho’s Deanna Lucero (21) during their game Friday at Eldorado. (GREG SORBER/JOURNAL)

“We came out with so much energy,” Puentes said. “It took us a while to get that second wind.”

Puentes said Eldorado’s pressure defense, and Rio Rancho’s tired legs, combined to produce this loss.

“We were trying to dig in and stop it,” Puentes said.

Still, Puentes said the Rams’ seniors are leaving the program in far better shape than when they arrived.

The last three years, he said, Rio Rancho has improved from a No. 14 seed in Class 5A, to a No. 13, and this March to a No. 10.

Four seniors will graduate, but there are a handful of key players returning, led by all-purpose guard Deanna Lucero.

“I realize as a coach you’re trying to get your team to play their best basketball at the end of the year, and we were,” Puentes said. “It just wasn’t good enough today.”

Salata’s final game saw her score 16 points.

MAYFIELD 56, CLEVELAND 33: In Las Cruces, the Storm’s season also came to an end Friday night, as the second-seeded Trojans led big early and rolled into the quarterfinals where they will face Eldorado.

No. 15 seed Cleveland (9-18) was in trouble early when starting point guard Karlie Peck picked up two fouls in the first 32 seconds, Storm coach Felicia Boatman said in a telephone interview after the game.

“They pressured us the whole time,” Boatman said. “We couldn’t score. We couldn’t get it going on that end. We just couldn’t do anything with the ball.”

Boatman said that despite the team’s record, it was a fulfilling season.

“I’m very proud of our team,” she said. “They worked hard even though things weren’t going right. They just kept working and working.

“They came to practice every day and worked their tails off and things didn’t always fall their way. We didn’t have a lot of wins, but this was one of the most beneficial seasons in the sense of growing because they worked so hard.”

While the Cleveland/Rio Rancho half of District 1-5A turns in equipment, the other half — No. 3 Cibola and No. 6 Volcano Vista — advance to play each other in Tuesday’s quarterfinals at the Santa Ana Star Center.

The Cougars rallied in the fourth quarter to beat No. 14 Oñate 47-34, while the sixth-seeded Hawks needed overtime to eliminate No. 11 Sandia 52-46.

Today

Rio Rancho’s boys and Bernalillo’s boys have first-round playoff games.

The 16th-seeded Rams are at No. 1 Eldorado at 5 p.m.

The winner faces either No. 4 Clovis or No. 5 Valley in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at the Pit.

The Spartans, seeded No. 4 in Class 4A, play host to 13th-seeded Artesia at 7 p.m.

The winner advances to the 4A quarterfinals Wednesday, also at the Pit.