FOOTBALL SHOWDOWN
Class 6A football playoffs enter semifinal round with Cleveland High advancing
Cleveland faced La Cueva in Class 6A semifinals. See story in today’s Journal sports section.
The 2017-18 high school basketball season began in earnest earlier this week.
Chief among the highlights was the return of Amaya Brown to Cibola’s lineup. The senior guard scored 26 points in a 60-29 girls road victory Monday night at Valley. Brown had missed her junior season with the Cougars due to a knee injury.
The Valley boys on Monday also opened with a win, 62-46 over visiting Cibola. Senior guard Anthony Chavez scored 29 points for the Vikings. TUESDAY: Cleveland outscored visiting La Cueva 93-81 as the Storm improved to 2-0. Jalen Munn had a team-best 21 points for the Storm, which had beaten Centennial 84-51 last Saturday. Aamer Muhammad led Cleveland with 22 points in that victory.
The most dramatic win Tuesday was authored by defending 6A state champion Volcano Vista, as Josh Parmenter’s basket with 7 seconds left gave the Hawks a season-opening 68-66 victory over visiting Atrisco Heritage. Parmenter had 29 points in the win.
West Mesa’s boys opened with a 52-49 triumph over Santa Fe as sophomore Eloy Medina poured in 23 points. Rio Rancho’s boys lost at home, 65-61 to Sandia, with Keshawn Banks leading the Rams with 14 points. Bosque School fell 80-51 to West Las Vegas.
On the girls’ side Tuesday, Rio Rancho, Cleveland and West Mesa all opened the season with victories.
The Rams downed injury-riddled defending state champion Sandia 54-28 as Camryn Hawkins led the way with 21 points. The Storm earned a 58-40 home win against La Cueva — which lost its best player to injury during the game — with Desiree Forster’s 21 points leading Cleveland. And West Mesa throttled Santa Fe 72-27 as Emily Burk led the Mustangs with 19 points.
THIS WEEKEND: Bernalillo’s boys and girls were competing in the Spartans’ annual four-team post-Thanksgiving event.
Cleveland met La Cueva late Friday night at Wilson Stadium in the Class 6A state semifinals.
For a game story, see today’s main Journal sports section.
The winner of that game plays Manzano or Las Cruces in the championship game next weekend.
Last Saturday, the Storm scored the game’s final 28 points in a 49-24 quarterfinal win over visiting Hobbs.
Isaac Torres rushed for 194 yards, and quarterback Angelo Trujillo threw three second-half touchdowns as Cleveland rallied from deficits of 21-14 and 24-21.
St. Pius and Rio Rancho saw their seasons end last weekend. The Sartans were beaten 47-14 at Artesia in the 5A quarterfinals, with sophomore quarterback Diego Pavia rushing for two TDs for St. Pius, last year’s state champion.
Rio Rancho, the defending state champion in 6A, fell 28-10 at Las Cruces in the 6A quarterfinals and finished 9-3 this season.