NMPreps.com's recap of the 2021 5A State Championship. The Cleveland Storm won their first title in program history. #nmpreps
Third Time’s the Charm as Cleveland Captures Elusive Blue Trophy
For seven straight seasons, including this one the Cleveland Storm (14-1) advanced to at least the Final Four and twice made the title game, losing in 2015 to Hobbs and in 2018 to Atrisco Heritage. Well, after knocking and knocking, and then knocking some more the Storm finally kicked down the door and won their first boys basketball championship. The Storm defeated Las Cruces (14-1) 55-49 in “The Pit” and denied the Bulldawgs a repeat and tenth overall title.
On winning the program's first title Head Coach Sean Jimenez said, “I’m just proud for these guys, I’m proud for Coach Smith who started this program, proud for our administration, our fans, and my assistants who have been here since day one with Coach Smith. He [Smith] built this program, so this one is for him and our community. This is a blessing and I’m glad these guys did it because these seniors are untouchable and I’m talking about as people. They do what you ask and deserve the success.”
The game was everything it was billed to be and more; as each team provided several highlight-reel-worthy plays and heart-racing moments. The Dawgs came out swinging early as William “Deuce” Benjamin got things rolling, opening the game with a three-ball. Deuce added another three moments later and following a nice turnaround jumper in the lane by Isaiah Carr it was 10-4 in favor of the Dawgs. Jeff Davison started a run for Cleveland with a bucket, and the Storm defense held Las Cruces to no points for the last four-plus minutes of the first quarter. Cleveland ended the quarter with an 8-0 run, punctuated by a thunderous Tre Watson slam dunk and it was 12-10 Cleveland after one.
Las Cruces scored the first six points of the second quarter, including a monster slam dunk by Carr to lead 16-12. Cleveland then reeled off six straight points of their own to reclaim the lead. Later, a Dustin Hicks step-back jumper for the Dawgs tied the game at 20 but on the ensuing possession, it was Nathan Hasberry swishing home a corner three to spark what ended up being an 11-2 run for the Storm. Hasberry started and ended the scoring run, as his pair of free throws put Cleveland ahead 31-20 with 54 seconds left. Just before the final horn of the first half, Carr got three points the old-fashioned way giving him the first-half total of 13, and the Storm lead was cut to 31-25 at halftime.
Watson banked in a jumper to give Cleveland a 33-25 lead with 5:39 in the third, but in a game of runs, the next two and a half minutes belonged to the Dawgs as they scored 11 straight points (seven by Deuce) to take a 36-33 lead and force a Cleveland timeout with 3:03.
Following the timeout, Hasberry euro-stepped his way for two points to end the Las Cruces run, and later an Evan Gonzales score gave the Storm back the lead at 39-38. Defensively the Storm was able to keep Carr in check, holding him to zero points, and in the closing seconds of the third Watson threw down his second powerful dunk of the night and Cleveland took a 41-38 lead into the final stanza.
“We started trapping a lot more, and he [Carr] probably had 3-4 offensive rebounds that turned into putbacks in the first half so we told them he cannot get rebounds, box him out and five of us have to rebound and I think we did that in the third quarter,” Jimenez said. Leading 44-40, the Storm and Watson had a scary moment as when the Fresno State-bound senior went to gather for a dunk he slipped and rolled his right ankle and a hush fell over The Pit crowd. Watson got up and limped off the floor with 4:23 to go and not knowing whether he would be able to return or not there was a definite sense that this could be a huge turning point. However, Cole Savage who replaced Watson buried a corner three to extend the Storm lead to 47-40 and Cleveland called timeout with 3:27.
Afterward, Jimenez said with a laugh, “We planned it, I told Tre to sprain your ankle real quick and let me get Cole in.” He went on to add, “We do a shooting drill every day and he [Savage] is always top two, he’s one of our top shooters on the team. I know he hadn’t shot the whole game but the guy is tough as nails and he had no hesitation to pull it.”
Following the timeout, Watson returned to the floor and despite looking a little shaky at first, was able to finish the game with no further issues.
The Dawgs showed their championship medal and made one last gasp, closing the game to 49-46, and had a chance to tie the game but Deuce’s trey was just off the iron and the Storm closed out the game by hitting six straight free throws and claiming their first blue trophy.
Watson said, “This was great, the chance to be the first team to ever do it is something spectacular and we just wanted to show the younger guys that anything you put your mind to you can get it done.”Hasberry added, “As soon as we got the ok to have a season, I knew we had a great group, a special group, and if we just kept together as a team, kept fighting through and take it to practice by practice and game by game we would make it to this point and it just feels amazing to finally win a state championship.”
Final Stats
Cleveland
Tre Watson 17 points and 7 rebounds
Nathan Hasberry 17 points
FG: 20-50 3PT: 2-10 FT: 13-15
Las Cruces
Deuce Benjamin 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists
Isaiah Carr 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 blocks
FG: 19-48 3PT: 3-10 FT: 8-10
