Prep basketball: Rio Rancho boys to host St. Pius for tourney championship

Dec. 30—RIO RANCHO — St. Pius grinded, Rio Rancho cruised.

The Sartans and Rams on Thursday night won semifinal games at the Rams' Jalene Berger Allstate Holiday Hoops Classic.

The Sartans fended off Rio Grande 45-41 in the first semifinal; Rio Rancho blew out Española Valley 63-28 in the later semi, as St. Pius (7-3) and Rio Rancho (7-4) meet at 7 p.m. Friday for the tournament championship.

The Sartans and Ravens (6-4) were engaged in a tug of war throughout, and it was the second low-scoring game these two have played against each other this month.

In the crucial fourth quarter, St. Pius' playmakers — guard Jason Montoya, power forward Gene Trujillo and forward Brian Kalb — summoned enough clutch baskets to keep Rio Grande from overtaking them.

Montoya buried a long 3-pointer to put the Sartans ahead for the final time, 36-34 with 4:50 remaining. Trujillo, a University of New Mexico baseball signee, added a basket from close range one minute later for a 38-34 lead.

But it was Kalb who authored probably the two most important baskets. Leading 38-37 after a Rio Grande 3, Kalb scored from 3 feet away, and then added a mid-range jumper with 1:28 to go for a 42-39 lead.

Kalb also helped at the other end, guarding Ravens guard Jonah Lopez, who only had two points in the final eight minutes until a late, meaningless score.

"It was really just on the defensive end," Kalb said of the fourth-quarter key. "And I was able to stop Jonah on offense."

Lopez scored a game-high 15 points for the Ravens. Kalb and Trujillo each had 12 points for St. Pius, which avenged a 48-44 loss to Rio Grande at the start of December.

The host team had a rare breather. The Rams could have not scored a single point after the 3 1/2 -minute mark of the second quarter, and still won this game against the struggling Sundevils (2-11).

Rio Rancho's pressure and trapping flustered Española Valley throughout and led to a parade of easy baskets. Junior guard Jayden Johnson scored 13 of Rio Rancho's first 16 points, many of them in transition off turnovers. The Rams forced 21 of them — 18 with the starters, who only played the first three quarters.

"Our traps, we were able to keep our hands up and off them, and that led to a lot of passes we were able to pick off," said Johnson, who finished with a team-best 21 points.

"We found the one defense that we were able to force many turnovers, and when you find a defense, you stick with that," Rams coach Wally Salata said.

ALSO THURSDAY: La Cueva's girls (6-3), ranked No. 4 in Class 5A by the state's coaches, beat No. 7 Las Cruces (10-3) 43-30 on Thursday in Las Cruces Holiday Hoopla girls tournament final. The La Cueva (7-2) boys defeated Central High from Phoenix 66-59 on Thursday as the Bears swept first place at the event.

Around Town Friday

Boys Prep Basketball

Rio Rancho Holiday Hoops Tournament

7th place game: Hope Christian vs. Sandia Prep, 1 p.m.

5th place game: Socorro, Texas, vs. Santa Fe, 3 p.m.

3rd place game: Rio Grande vs. Española Valley, 5 p.m.

Championship: St. Pius vs. Rio Rancho, 7 p.m.

Girls Prep Basketball

Thursday

ROSWELL 42, ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY 22

Albuquerque Academy: Zoe Kunz 10, Melissa Purcella 6, Marlo Brunner 3, Addie Sprately 2, Molly Miller 2. Totals: FG 8, FT 4-8.

ROSWELL: Daci Smith 12, Emma Esquivel 11, Sarai Morales 6, Alayna Tarin 5, Bryana Castro 4, Serenity Chavez 2, Myla Moore 2. Totals: FG 16, FT 4-6.

ABQ Academy 2 7 6 7—22

Roswell 8 10 15 9—42

3-pointers: AA 2 (Brunner, Kunz); R 6 (Smith 4, Morales 1, Tarin 1). Team Fouls AA 7; R 14. Fouled Out: none. Technicals: None.

Thursday's girls scores

Artesia 57, Deming 39

Carlsbad 42, Mayfield 32

Clayton 55, Logan 35

EP El Dorado, Texas 48, Piedra Vista 20

Espanola Valley 43, Taos 31

Floyd 40, San Jon 25

Hope Christian 61, Penasco 29

Kirtland Central 59, Goddard 26

Magdalena 45, Fort Sumner 42

Magdalena 45, Fort Sumner/House 42

Mescalero Apache 57, Jemez Valley 47

Miyamura 36, Belen 24

Santa Fe Indian 54, Tohajilee 36

Thoreau 55, Santa Rosa 44

Boys Prep Basketball

Thursday

Rio Rancho Holiday Hoops Tournament

Semifinals

RIO RANCHO 63, ESPAÑOLA VALLEY 28

ESPAÑOLA VALLEY (2-11): Francis Concepcion 1, Jayden Duran 3, Jeremiah Trujillo 3, Osbaldo Erives 2, Jacob Torresdey 3, Nathan Chacon 3, Jaydn Martinez 6, Marques Martinez 4, Gabriel Law 2, Irvin Primero 1. Totals 10 6-12 28.

RIO RANCHO (7-4): Chris Lucero 2, Mikey Wood 2, Wyatt Rodriguez 6, Jerry Archuleta 11, Kevin Archuleta 2, Josiah Marfil 11, Jamal Bynum 4, Jayden Johnson 21, Maddox Presser 4. Totals 24 11-14 63.

Espanola Valley 10 6 8 4 — 28

Rio Rancho 19 22 13 9 — 63

3-point goals: EV 2 (Duran, Chacon); RR 4 (Marfil 3, J.Archuleta). Total fouls: EV 9; RR 11.

Semifinals

ST. PIUS 45, RIO GRANDE 41

ST. PIUS (7-3): Jason Montoya 17, Nick Rodriguez 3, Brian Kalb 12, Gene Trujillo 12, Aidan Thomas 1. Totals: 15 10-15 45.

RIO GRANDE (6-4): Jonah Lopez 15, Eliseo Velasquez 3, Jonathon Lukesh 4, Isaiah Lucero 6, Mateo Gonzalez 2, Santiago Gonzales 11. Totals: 17 3-6 41.

St. Pius 8 10 13 14 — 45

Rio Grande 13 6 11 11 — 41

3-point goals: SP 5 (Montoya 4, Rodriguez); RG 4 (Lucero 2, Velasquez, Gonzales). Total fouls: SP 11; RG 18.

Consolation semifinals

SANTA FE HIGH 79, HOPE CHRISTIAN 59

HOPE CHRISTIAN (5-3): Jett Wyckoff 21, Noah Perry 7, Nathan Saavedra 6, Caden Williams 5, Christian Schermerhorn 10, Brayden Giron 5, Nico Gutierrez 3, Xavier Otero 2. Totals: 16 FG 22-27 FT 59.

SANTA FE (5-5): Santi Montoya 16, Lorenzo Perea 2, Lukas Turner 18, Sam Lopez 2, Daniel Lopez 9, Joshua Trujillo 14, Rob Martinez 11, Isaiah Martinez 2, Joe Gonzales 2, Owen Lock 3. Totals: 24 FG 24-32 FT 79.

Hope 14 12 15 18 — 59

Santa Fe 18 25 7 29 — 79

3-pointers: HC 5 (Perry 2, Williams, Schermerhorn, Giron), SF 7 (Montoya 2, Turner, D. Lopez, Trujillo, Martinez, Lock). Total fouls: HC 16 , SF 17. Fouled out: Saavedra.

Consolation semifinals

EL PASO SOCORRO 50, SANDIA PREP 45

SANDIA PREP (3-5): Miles Manzanares 4, Peyton Henderson 4, Lucas Lemons 11, Jacob Schierloh 11, Alex Jeffries 15. Totals: 15 FG 14-22 FT 45.

EL PASO SOCORRO (9-7): Johnny Garcia 4, Izaiah Carbajal 3, Eric Reza 20, Alexis Gutierrez 7, Sebastian Allen 8, Kris Fang 2, Ethan Wolf 2, Estaban Carter 4. Totals: 19 FG 8-16 FT 50.

Sandia Prep 6 12 12 15 — 45

Socorro 11 16 13 10 — 50

3-pointers: SP 1 (Lemons), S 4 (Garcia, Reza, Gutierrez, Allen). Total fouls: SP 14, S 20.

Thursday's boys scores

Academy for Technology and The Classics 50, Santa Rosa 46

Alamo-Navajo 39, Mescalero Apache 37

Anthony, Texas 53, Chaparral 50

Artesia 50, Spring Valley, Nev. 47

Cleveland 79, Farmington 49

Clovis 55, Lovington 54

EP Bel Air, Texas 75, Newcomb 51

EP Socorro, Texas 50, Sandia Prep 45

Goddard 55, Kirtland Central 42

Los Alamos 56, Piedra Vista 35

Los Lunas 68, Valencia 38

Monte del Sol 65, Questa 36

Monte del Sol 65, Santa Fe Prep 36

Organ Mountain 57, Highland 53

Rio Rancho 63, Espanola Valley 28

Roswell 51, Navajo Prep 48

Santa Fe 79, Hope Christian 59

St. Michael's 61, Belen 56

St. Pius X 45, Rio Grande 41