Metro sweep
Rio West boys and girls teams capture trophies at the ABQ Metro Basketball Championships
The large trophies that go with winning the Albuquerque Metro Basketball Championships both will have Rio West addresses for the next 12 months. First-time addresses, at that. On Monday night at Cibola, Rio Rancho’s boys beat Sandia 79-63 in the championship game.
At Sandia, West Mesa’s girls defeated Hope Christian 52-37.
For both the Rams and Mustangs, it was their first metro basketball title.
West Mesa, the No. 3 metro seed, overcame a double-digit deficit in the semifinals last Saturday against No. 2 Eldorado before impressively taking out the Eagles to advance. In the final, the Mustangs avenged their only loss of the season by taking down the top-seeded Huskies and win their ninth game in a row.
No. 5 seed Rio Rancho held off No. 1 Albuquerque High in last Saturday’s semifinals, 83-79. In the championship game, guard Juan Hurt, wing Jeremy Snider, and inside men Joe Elmalhy, Keshawn Banks and Derrick Reyes all played key roles.
Volcano Vista’s boys finished third at metros, as the Hawks rallied in the second half to force overtime, then defeated AHS 51-47 in OT.
Tuesday night saw two Rio West teams win in overtime. In Cleveland’s case, it took three OTs. But the Storm outlasted Eldorado 111109, getting a buzzer beater by sophomore Nakqi Smith to end the game.
St. Pius’ boys also won in OT on Tuesday, downing La Cueva 66-59 after squandering a lead in the fourth quarter to the Bears. Brennan Myers had 16 points in the win for St. Pius.
Cleveland’s girls nearly had their biggest upset of the year on Tuesday, but saw Eldorado come back to beat the Storm 44-43 despite Callahan Franklin’s team-best 18 points.
Also Tuesday, West Mesa’s girls followed up their metro title with a strong victory over St. Pius.
On Wednesday, on a night former Cibola boys coach Frank Castillo was recognized prior to the game for his induction into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame, Castillo’s La Cueva Bears fell 61-44 to the visiting Cougars, who got 21 points from Desmond Carpenter and 20 more from Ricardo Zambrano.
Valley’s boys on Thursday night earned one of its best victories of the season, 58-49 at Class 5A power Los Lunas. The Vikings were led by junior guard Anthony Chavez’s 22 points.
It has been a struggle this season for West Mesa’s boys, but the Mustangs were a basket away from their biggest win of the season Thursday. But visiting Eldorado managed a 45-44 win.
Cleveland’s boys are gaining momentum into next week after throttling Sandia 82-61 on Thursday in Rio Rancho. Aamer Muhammad led the Storm with 19 points. Marquise Hill chipped in with 18.
Hot team
Cibola’s girls very quietly are putting together their best stretch of basketball this season.
In the final two rounds of the metro tournament, the Cougars beat a pair of District 1-6A rivals, Volcano Vista and then Rio Rancho. This is an excellent sign, as district play begins next week for everyone in the league.
To those two victories, Cibola (11-5), which is thriving in part because of terrific scoring balance, has added wins this week against Valencia and, more tellingly, a solid La Cueva team.
Wrestling
The annual Joe Vivian Classic moves to Volcano Vista this year. It began on Friday and concludes today with the finals scheduled for 5 p.m.
Cibola, Volcano Vista, St. Pius, Valley and West Mesa all are competing this weekend.
Rio Rancho is off this weekend, while Cleveland is out of state at a meet.
Girls swimming/diving
The Albuquerque Metro Championships are today at the West Mesa Aquatic Center.
Cibola, West Mesa, Volcano Vista, Valley, Rio Rancho, Cleveland and Bosque School all are among the teams in the 16-team field.
The boys metros are a week from today.
Amaya Brown
The Cibola High junior guard earlier this week was chosen for the 2017 USA Select Team that will compete in Italy over the summer.
The announcement was made by adidas Women’s Basketball.
Brown hasn’t played a game this season as she continues her recovery from a knee injury.