Basketball readiness: Hyland beats St. Pius

As expected, the division 5-4A men’s basketball first place match was close.

In what could be the first of a handful of matches between the two teams between now and mid-March, world number one-ranked Hyland finished fourth at Highlands on Tuesday night. defeated St. Pius 51-50.

“It was a great game,” Hive coach Justin Woody said.

For St. Pius (13-7, 3-1), the last 20 seconds saw some potentially winning shots. Brian Kalb, who scored 17 points at the Sultans, had his two midrange shots that allowed him to put his Pius in front.

Alexis Dominguez led the Hornets with 21 points (15-6, 4-0). The next meeting will be held on February 17th in St. Pius.

From Districts 1-5A, Cleveland and Volcano Vista won their matchup Tuesday night ahead of a big meeting later this week.

In Rio Rancho, the No. 3 Storm (17-5, 4-0) defeated the No. 10 Rams (14-7-2-2) 85-74.

Junior guard Daniel Steverson led Cleveland with 31 points. Freshman Remy Albrecht scored 24 points.

Aside from a third quarter surge by Rio Rancho, the Storm led in double digits for most of the game.

Cleveland beat Volcano Vista 53-50 in the team’s first district tournament.

At Volcano Vista, the Class 5A top-ranked Hawks (20-1, 3-1) pulled away after halftime to defeat short-handed Atrisco Heritage 63-48. The world’s sixth-ranked Jaguars (17-5, 1-3) remain without senior guard Chris Parra, who has not returned to the lineup after suffering an ankle injury in the district opener against Rio Rancho.

Volcano Vista had a 17-15 lead at halftime, but outscored Atrisco Heritage 25-9 in the third quarter behind Sean Alter’s 7 points and several 3-pointers.

La Cueva beat visiting Eldorado 56-35 in Tuesday night’s women’s action in District 2-5A.

The Bears (15-6-4-1) are one game away from division leader Farmington. Jordyn Dyer leads La Cueva with 23 points. Alexis Ayers scored 17 points.

Eagles sophomore guard Bella Hines scored 28 points for Eldorado (9-10, 2-3).

At Sandia, the Matadors (15-5x, 3-2) beat West Mesa (11-9, 1-4), 70-55. Sidney Bennally had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 5 steals for Sandia. Audrey Wright he had 8 points, 9 boards and 5 assists.

Note: Hope Christian Senior Center Kathleen Obishke had 18 career rebounds (and 21 points) in the Huskies’ 71-25 win over Del Norte on Tuesday night. . Obiike is the fourth Hope Girl to have 1,000 or more rebounds in her career.