A career game for Remy Albrecht and a key victory for Cleveland

RIO RANCHO — Remy Albrecht has, periodically for the last four seasons since he was an eighth-grader, had days where he was filling it up for the Cleveland Storm. He could always score.

But there’s not ever been a day for Albrecht like this one. Not even close.

The Cleveland junior guard went off for a career-high — and school record — 47 points on Saturday afternoon, a phenomenal showing that sparked a come-from-behind victory for Class 5A’s fifth-ranked boys basketball team, 84-75, over No. 3 Hobbs in an entertaining nondistrict matinee.

It wasn’t until after the game that he realized he was this close to half a hundred.

“I didn’t know I was that close,” he said with a smile. “If I did, I would have tried to get 50.”

The 5-foot-10 Albrecht’s previous career best was 34, he said. The school record before Saturday was 41 points, established in 2015.

There was no particular indication that this was coming, insomuch as Albrecht had just a single field goal and two points in the first quarter.

And then, he could barely miss, not from any level. Not from distance — and sometimes he was far away — not in the mid-range, and not when he drove to the cup and finished.

“When Remy scores at all three levels, he’s the toughest kid to guard in the state, in my opinion,” Cleveland coach Zack Cole said.

For Cleveland (11-5), the victory snapped a three-game losing skid. The Storm was battered by Sandia in the metro semis, lost a close game to rival Rio Rancho for third place, and dropped a narrow decision at home to La Cueva on Thursday night.

“Best win we’ve had this season,” Cole said. “We’ve been in a rut.”

Following a relatively competitive back-and-forth first half, which ended with Hobbs (16-3) leading 42-35, the Eagles — playing their sixth game in the area in the last 12 days, including metros — quickly extended to a 49-37 lead less than 90 seconds into the third quarter.

Cleveland countered. Two final-minute 3-pointers by Albrecht closed the gap to 63-62 by the end of the quarter. And he added a three-point play less than a minute into the fourth for a 67-65 Cleveland lead.

At 69-65, there was a flurry of 3s by the Storm — two by sophomore Ajay Vigil, one by Albrecht, and suddenly it was a 78-65 advantage for Cleveland.

The Storm had created a 25-point swing in just over a quarter against the shell-shocked Eagles.

“I told the boys, when things are going against you, nothing is gonna be given, you have to find a way to fight and pull it out, and this was a perfect game for us to demonstrate how hard we wanted to work,” Cole said.

Said Albrecht: “We were tired of losing. We had to come with a better mindset.”

Cleveland opens District 1-5A play on Tuesday night against a vastly improved Cibola team.

Cleveland boys basketball beats Hobbs: Photos