Cleveland hands No. 1 Las Cruces its first loss, 69-61

RIO RANCHO – There are noise levels, and then there are NOISE levels.

From the hallway just outside the Cleveland High School boys basketball locker room, the volume from inside was most definitely jacked up toward the latter. This didn’t sound like a normal midseason celebration, and it wasn’t.

Why? Because the Storm (8-2), ranked sixth in Class 5A, led virtually the entire way and handed visiting No. 1 Las Cruces (11-1) its first loss of the 2025-26 season, 69-61 on Friday night.

The Bulldawgs had beaten Cleveland 57-56 just last month.

“Tonight,” Storm coach Zack Cole said, “we took care of the ball, and we made our free throws, and we got some timely rebounds down the stretch.”

Las Cruces led this game for a shade under two minutes in the first quarter, otherwise the Bulldawgs were in pursuit of Cleveland the entire way as the Storm bagged their most important win of the season.

“It (5A) is most definitely up in the air,” said junior guard Ajay Vigil.

It was most assuredly not the cleanest performance from Las Cruces, which committed 16 first-half turnovers, getting the Bulldawgs into a deficit it could never fully erase.

“The press got ‘em,” Vigil said.

Some of those 16 were Cleveland-forced. Many of them, however, were self-inflicted, leaving Las Cruces coach William Benjamin frustrated and talking to himself late in the first half. “How are we still in this game?” he said at one point.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by junior Brycen Bowie, from nearly an identical spot on the floor near the end of the first quarter, staked Cleveland to an 18-8 lead. That lead fluctuated throughout – it was down to six a few times, it was as large as 14 – but Las Cruces never generated that game-turning type of run that could have given them a chance to steal a road win.

The Bulldawgs only had three turnovers after halftime, but the damage had already been done earlier.

“Last time, we gambled a lot in the half court, and we gave them free runs in the lane,” Cole said. “Tonight, we didn’t gamble as much and we stayed home, and it led to them (making) some bad passes.”

Vigil and Bowie’s shooting helped pick up some of the scoring slack, with Cleveland’s top shooter, senior Remy Albrecht, struggling a bit from the perimeter. He finished with just two 3s, both in the second half, and led Cleveland with 22 points.

Vigil added 17 points, Bowie 11.

Cole said the Storm wasted a couple of opportunities to close out Las Cruces when they met on Dec. 19, but was encouraged that Cleveland kept the persistent Bulldawgs at an arm’s length on Friday.

“The more games we can get that feel more like a playoff situation, we’ll take them,” Cole said, adding, “We’re trying to find the best version of ourselves.”

Cleveland turns around to the Albuquerque Metro Championships on Tuesday, where the Storm opens with Hope Christian.

“We’ve got confidence,” Vigil said, “We’re feeling great.”

Sophomore forward Jayden Brisby had a game-high 25 points for the Bulldawgs. Senior guard Benjamin Walton added 14 points.

With Las Cruces' loss, that leaves Rio Rancho (8-0) as the last remaining undefeated team in 5A boys basketball.