Basketball Game Preview: Cleveland Storm vs. Rio Rancho Rams

The Cleveland Storm and the Rio Rancho Rams will face off at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Cleveland is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Sandia, who was ranked third at the time (Cleveland was ranked fifth). Cleveland was beaten by Sandia 93-63 on Friday. The Storm were down 75-43 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Meanwhile, Rio Rancho unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Friday. They fell to Volcano Vista 65-59.

Rio Rancho's loss dropped their record down to 10-3. As for Cleveland, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 10-3.

Everything came up roses for Cleveland against Rio Rancho in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as the team secured an 85-53 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cleveland since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.