Cleveland (Rio Rancho) boys basketball coach Brian Smith knew there was something special about this year's team after the Storm came roaring back from an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Centennial (Las Cruces), 60-56, in the third-place game of the Hobbs Holiday Tournament on Dec. 28.
"After the game, I told the guys I'm not going to doubt them anymore," Smith said. "I apologized to them."
No apologies needed, coach.
In just its fifth year as a program, the Storm — 9-2 entering Wednesday night's game against Valley (Albuquerque) in the Albuquerque Metro Basketball Championships — is off to its best start ever.
Smith, who has been the only boys coach in the school's short five-year history, has been particularly pleased with this year's group. Cleveland already owns wins over Valley on Dec. 20 and Manzano (Albuquerque), two teams that are expected to make deep runs in the 5A state playoffs.
Although Cleveland wasn't rated highly in the majority of the preseason rankings, Smith had a feeling his team could play — and beat — anyone. But the team's consistently solid performances have exceeded even Smith's lofty expectations.
"We had a pretty successful summer season, going 22-9, so we did set high expectations," Smith said. "But the guys have surprised me a bit in that they've responded to basically every tough situation. Against Centennial, we go on an 18-0 run and win by four. You don't see many comebacks like that in the high school game. It's a great feeling to know this team can pull off something like that."
Led by breakout star
Ryan Jones, a 6-foot-1 shooting guard who is averaging 23 points per game, Cleveland combines three potent factors — talent, numbers and an undying work ethic — to outlast the competition.
"Cleveland has always been known for working hard, but this year we've got a bit more talent to go along with that," Smith said.
Smith regularly uses a 10-man rotation to apply full-court pressure and play an up-tempo game. Jones, who went off for 37 points in a narrow loss to Hobbs earlier this season, is the team's go-to player. He's able to get to the basket off dribble penetration, drain shots from in close or from beyond the arc and make teams pay at the charity stripe (he's a 94-percent free-throw shooter).
But Cleveland is hardly a one-man show. Point guard
Josiah Mahboub and forward
Stephen Montoya spark the team with their all-out hustle and grit, and forwards
Marcus Williams and
Jacob Earnest are adept at posting up and rebounding.
At 6-4, Earnest is the team's tallest player, and he plays like it.
"He can play above the rim at times and gets a lot of buckets inside, which is nice," Smith said. "But what's great about Jacob's game is he can also hit some shots from 3-point range."
Desmond Branch, a 6-3 forward who has been offered by three Division I programs, is one of five reserves who see significant minutes, including
Damien Speaker,
Jay Clemena,
JaJuan Bush and
Marcus Gibson.
"What's crazy is in our 11 games, we've played all 12 of the guys on our roster in seven or eight games," Smith said. "That just doesn't happen much in high school basketball. Our bench players give us energy, and we literally have a different player every game making a contribution."
The Storm seemingly have all the components to make a deep postseason push, if not win it all. Three years ago, Cleveland made it to the state tournament semifinals, and this year's squad is more balanced and complete.
"We've struggled (in the playoffs) the last two years, but this year's team is pretty determined to not let that happen," Smith said. "They've been resilient so far, and I'm confident they'll play their best when it counts the most."
