Basketball Recap: Tuesday's Victory Is Cibola's Seventh in Last Eight Outings

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Previous Games

01/28/25 - Home	70-60 W
02/27/24 - Away	72-95 L
02/15/24 - Away	57-51 W
01/31/24 - Home	63-82 L
02/10/23 - Home	50-73 L
+ 5 more games

Cibola hadn't done well against Rio Rancho recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Cibola Cougars walked away with a 70-60 victory over the Rio Rancho Rams. For the Cougars, this counts as revenge for the 95-72 win the Rams walked away with the last time they faced one another back in February of 2024.

Despite the loss, Rio Rancho saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Noah Lovato went 6 of 9 on his way to 17 points and three steals. The dominant performance gave Lovato a new career-high in steals. Another player making a difference was Kevin Archuleta, who went 7 for 11 to rack up 16 points.

Cibola has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.9 points over those games. As for Rio Rancho, they dropped their record down to 11-8 with the defeat, which was their third straight on the road.

Cibola has already played their next game, a 69-60 victory against Farmington on the 30th. As for Rio Rancho, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 77-60 win against Piedra Vista on the 30th.