NMPreps.com Game of the Week took place in Rio Rancho, New Mexico with the No. 4 team in the state, Las Cruces High School visiting the Cleveland Storm. The Las Cruces Bulldawgs notch their first win of December after almost an entire month off from playing, 77-71.

Mando Marshall led the way for the Bulldawgs (No. 4 NMPreps.com Top 25) with 24 points, front court duo of Kai Williams and Trevor Noel both poured in 17 points each.

Cleveland's, NMPreps.com Mr. Basketball candidate guard Kyle Quintana tried and shot all he could to try and upset the visiting Las Cruces team who finished with 7, 3-pointers for the afternoon game.

The Bulldawgs off to a 4-2 start have sat out from playing a basketball game since Nov. 22nd. The Storm who are coming off a loss last night to the No. 13 Valley Vikings drop to 3-7 on the year.

Las Cruces controlled the game and never lost it's lead from the get go and battled through a couple Storm comebacks. The game was filled with fouls on both sides of the court and it created problems making the game run smoothly.

The Storm made two runs trying to even the score with a trick hat by Kyle Quintana hitting 3, 3-pointers in a row but the 'Dawgs seemed to have an answer for everything that they threw at them. The high low action between Marshall-Williams and Marshall-Noel seemed to be unstoppable for Storm who lack the height. The Storm frontcourt also being rookies, with two sophomores down low, got a listen from a veteran and one of the states most dominate front courts. The three head monster down low with Marshall, Williams and Noel. Also, in that killer front court is Kamyrn Dixon who battled foul trouble all day and eventually fouled out in the third quarter.

The Bulldawgs are not all front court though with great showings from starters Joe Garza and Gilbert Sigala. Both guards found the bucket all night and controlled the tempo of the game on each of the Storm runs.

Joshua Grine, NMPreps.com Basketball Analyst: grinejosh@yahoo.com

Number one went down once again this time Albuquerque who was ranked number one overall by NMPreps.com lost a two point thriller to Sandia on Saturday night. Sandia now 5-4 on the year were led by Isaiah Rogers who scored 13 points on the night.

The Clovis Wildcats moved to 6-1 on the season topping Alamogordo Saturday night 51-35 in a game that was all Clovis. The Wildcats were led by DJ Blackmon who scored a game high 16 points. The Wildcats shot 65% on the night.

No. 5 La Cueva 70, No. 20 Highland 56

La Cueva (6-2) played host to the visiting Highland Hornets in a non-district match. The Bears led by it's trio of Bryce Alford (18), Justin Griego (21) and freshman Kai Locksley (15) combined for 54 of the Bear's 70 points.

Highland still playing without one of it's main scorers was led by Aiden Houlihan with 15 points.

Rio Grande 65, No. 8 Volcano Vista 46

The big Saturday upset came in the "Valley" with the Rio Grande Ravens stomp the visiting Hawks of Valcano. The Ravens with have won 3 of the last four games are starting to get things rolling. Arturo Garcia silently becoming a top-notch scorer led the Ravens with 21 points.

Volcano Vista still looking for an identity was led by Josh Holmes with 21 points.

No. 11 Manzano 55, No. 23 West Mesa 23

Manzano- Quvashaun Branch is slowly making his presence known for the 11th ranked Monarchs (6-2) in the state of New Mexico. Branch led the Monarchs with 19 points followed by partner Ben Romero with 14 points.

West Mesa still searching for that big top 25 win was led by Nick Trujillo with 21 points.

No. 13 Valley 71, Gallup 66 (OT)

The Vikings avoided a huge upset that could have eventually hurt them come tournament time. I will say though the Bengals welcomed back top guard Nick August who has missed all but one game this season. The Vikings squeaked by with 18 points from sophomore Robert Armijo. Anthony Santillanes, 15 and Troy Giddings were also in double figures for the Vikings.

Pat Whitman led the Bengals with 20 points.

No. 21 Valencia 62, Del Norte 57

The Valencia Jaguars regroup and put a quality win on the road over the Del Norte Knights. The Jaguars used a 20 point fourth quarter push to top the Knights. Shooting guard LJ Vargas led the way for the Jags with 15 points, followed by post Jarrod Storey with 13 points.

The Knights were led by Issac Tenorio with 21 points.

Bernalillo 66, Kirtland Central 62 (OT)

The Bernalillo Spartans (4-4) are playing some of their best basketball this week and top the Broncos (6-2) in yet another overtime game for the Spartans in back-to-back nights. Sweet shooting guard Brandon Saiz dropped 46 points for the Spartans. Saiz has come into his own and looks to be a force in February-March.

The Broncos got 24 points from Christian Mackey.

Atrisco Heritage Academy 62, Los Lunas 61

For the second time this season Atrisco Heritage has topped the Tigers by one point. Sophomore guard Corbin Waquie led way for the Jaguars with 17 points. Each week the Jaguars are looking like 4A contenders and the win helps build the resume.

Mario Garcia led way for the Tigers with 15 points.

Bernalillo, NM- Friday night in Bernalillo the Spartans who have been struggling of late finally found some rhythm and came out on top in what could be the best win of the season in a 67-60 thriller.

The first quarter was no indication of the game after four minutes of play the No. 21 Jaguars held a 3-0 lead. The teams both missing contested shots on both ends of the floor. As, if there was a cover over the rim. The Jaguars eventually got some guard play through guard Josh Gerken and Santiago Cordova to take a 13-6 first quarter lead.

The Jaguars came out of the huddle fast and ran quick to a 21-11 streak until a Terry Darnell timeout (Bernalilo head coach), and the light went off for the Spartans. Shooting guard Brandon Saiz who hasn't shot extremely well lately found his role and knocked down a pair of threes. The Spartans fueled with energy from a rather loud and great crowd went on a quick 9-0 run, going up 23-21 on the Jaguars. That lead to a 28-26 first half lead for the Spartans heading into the half.

The second half became a back and forth battle with both teams going on several runs. The Spartans lead by Brandon Saiz, 26 points and Trey Darnell 13 points showed off a their deep range shooting abilities. Several trips down the court you would have either a Darnell from the left or a Saiz three from the right. With time winding down in the third quarter the ball went into Darnell's hands and from NBA range hit a crowd pleasing, three point buzzer beater.

The Spartans leading 46-36 to start the fourth quarter put some fire under the visiting Jaguars. The Jags came out on a 6-0 run cutting the lead down to three points, 46-43. Ending that run though was Darnell who hit a tough in your eye three pointer. Valencia shooting guard LJ Vargas answered the call and the game tightened up after his big three pointer. After a pair of exchanged buckets the game was knotted up at , 55-55 with 2:00 minutes to play on a Noah Brown put-back. Both teams looked to hold for the final shot.

Valencia after a Bernalillo turnover called a timeout with :38 seconds to go in the ball game. After working the clock in the front court down to :8 seconds head coach Dominic Romero decided to draw up a final shot and used his final timeout. The ball was inbound to Santiago Cordova who drove left and didn't stop in time and turned the ball over to Bernalillo with :3.2 seconds to go. The Spartans had one last shot before the end of the 4th but missed the three pointer. Overtime here we come.

The Spartans put the ball in the hands of Brandon Saiz for the overtime and the junior guard accepted the challenge. Saiz who was praised by his coach Terry Darnell after knocking down his free throws. The Jaguars called on several back-to-back body calls sent Saiz to the charity stripe. It was all Spartans in the overtime though and ran away with a 67-60 victory over a NMPreps.com Top 25 squad.

The Clovis Wildcats moved to 5-1 on the season topping the defending Class 5A State champs Friday night 53-42. D.J. Blackmon scored 12 points and played some very solid defense on the night limiting Onate to only tough shots most of the night. Onate falls to 3-5 on the season and were led by Brandon Rosales who scored 13 points.

At, Del Norte the Knights shocked several people again and kept it close with the number one team in the state. The Knights who stand at 1-8 have played several top five teams close but fall late in the fourth. Brandon Trujillo, 16 and Isaac Tenorio 10 lead the Knights. The Albuquerque High Bulldogs avoided the upset with its "Bulldog Fab Five" all contributing equally tonight combining for 41 of the 47 points. The Top two were Martin Colledge-Romero and Malik Sims both having 10 a piece tonight.

The St. Michael's Horsemen knocked off rival Santa Fe High Friday night thanks in part to senior Jared Armijo. He scored seven key points to help the Horsemen improve to 6-1 on the season in front of a pack house at Perez Shlley Gymnasium. Santa Fe was led by Elliot Nicholas who scored 10 points.

The Deming Wildcats topped the Alamogordo Tigers Friday mainly because of a horrible shooting night for the Tigers who finished just 22% from the field. The low scoring half score was 19-13, before Deming pulled away late in the second. Eric Schalk scored 19 points for Alamogordo while Quinci Hester finished with 10. Javier Palacios led Deming with 19 points.

The Belen Eagles topped Socorro be eight points Friday night and it was 6-foot-5 Zachary Martin who huge numbers. Martin scored 27 points and pulled down 21 rebounds.

In a no contest match up the Tularosa Wildcats moved to 6-0 on the season. Jarin Carrillo scored 14 points for the Wildcats. Estancia had 37 turnovers on the night.

No. 7 Eldorado 53, Highland 49

The Eagles who are coming off a runner-up showing at the Joe Armijo classic let its top players control this one. Junior guard Cullen Neal poured in 19 points followed by Tobein Braziers 12. The Hornets who are missing key player Michael Savaadra found points from Marcus Mitchell who matched the nights high with 19 points.

No. 11 Manzano 43, Rio Grande 32 The Monarchs welcomed back NMPreps.com Top 10 player Quavshaun Branch back in the crosstown matchup. Branch poured in 15 points followed by a Jarrell Harper 10.

The Vikings led by its go-to player Anthony Santillanes, 18 points found another big time win. The Vikings who have common strong early this season are building their resume come March. The Storm found 16 points from Kyle Quintana but still struggling on the season.

-Santa Fe, NM. The Capital Jaguars (6-2) squared off with a surging 3A Taos Tigers. The two former district rivals battled early in the first but the Jaguars used a strong third quarter to extend it's halftime edge. Michael Sanders and John Cerrano lead the Jaguars with 14 points each. Max Suazo led the Tigers with 10 points.

-Moriarty, NM. The Pintos played host to the No. 21 Valencia Jaguars and kept things interesting. After, the Jaguars took a commanding 31-18 lead in the first half It was the Pintos who came out punching in the second. At the end of three it was 41-38. The Jaguars eventually held on to win, 55-53. Three point specialist Shane Lewis led the Jaguars with 17 points. Moriarty led by it's inside presence of Eron Hyatt and Cody Striker scoring 14 points each.

Bernalillo, NM. The Horsemen (5-1) ranked for the first time this season are on one of the hottest streaks and continue rolling with a 42-33 win Tuesday night. NMPreps.com week four player of the week, Matt Barela led the Horsemen with 12 points while partner Antonio Garcia with 10. Brandon Saiz led the Spartans with 10 points.

Santa Fe, NM. This one was all Los Lunas from the get-go as they pounded the struggling Braves. Shooting guard Austin Gibson led the Tigers with 19 points while sophomore sensation Chris Sanchez dropped 15. The Braves who continue to struggle under first-year head coach Jonathan Haack dropped to (1-6).

-Casa Blanca, NM. Former West Mesa High School (Albuquerque, NM) assistant, Ryan Peil who is in his first season as head coach of the Laguna-Acoma Hawks has them at (6-0). Austin Jones and Josh Paytimao led the Hawks with 14 points

No. 15 Sandia 52, No. 1 Albuquerque High 46

No. 3 Clovis 51, No 18 Alamogordo 35

No. 4 Las Curces 77, Cleveland 71

No. 5 La Cueva 70, No. 20 Highland 56

Rio Grande 65, No. 8 Volcano Vista 46

No. 10 Hobbs 74, No. 22 Onate 67

No. 11 Manzano 55, West Mesa 44

No. 13 Valley 71, Gallup 66 (OT)

No. 21 Valencia 62, Del Norte 57

Atrisco Heritage 62, Los Lunas 61

Shiprock 76, Kirtland Central 74

Texico 74, Tularosa 68

Artesia 59, Lovington 57

Espanola Valley 87, Santa Fe Indian 55

Gallup Catholic 76, Quemado 72

Hagerman 36, Tatum 32

Laguna-Acoma 88, Tohatchi 48

Logan 84, Des Moines 43

Manzano 55, West Mesa 44

Pecos 62, Tucumcari 54

Sandia 52, Albuquerque High 46

Taos 53, Los Alamos 46

Texico 74, Tularosa 68

Valencia 62, Del Norte 57

Boys Basketball

No. 1 Albuquerque High 49, Del Norte 47

No. 3 Clovis 53, No. 22 Onate 42

No. 7 Eldorado 53, Highland 49

No. 11 Manzano 43, Rio Grande 32

No. 13 Valley 73, Cleveland 66

No. 24 St. Michael's 55, Santa Fe 45

No. 25 Grants 76, Moriarty 43

Belen 59, Socorro 51

Bernalillo 67, No. 21 Valencia 60, OT

Deming 52, No. 18 Alamgordo 40

Hagerman 47, Dexter 39

Jemez Valley 43, Temple Baptist 16

Laguna-Acoma 76, Wingate 41

Menaual 54, Santa Fe Waldorf 26

Mesilla Valley Christian 54, Silver 45

Roswell 94, Lovington 58

Pecos 71, Escalante 54

Santa Teresa 41, Gadsden 27

Tularosa 68 Estancia 21

Thursday, Dec. 15th

No. 12 Piedra Vista 76, Bayfield, Colo. 70

No. 14 Capital 60, Pojoaque 40

Capitan 53, NMMI 44

Dexter 62, Tatum 43

Gallup 78, Farmington 65

Laguna-Acoma 79, Zuni 63

Menaul 72, Jemez Valley 21

Santa Fe Waldorf School 63, Temple Baptist 18

Socorro 70, Estancia 43

Walatowa 80, Desert Academy 53

Tuesday, December 13th

Top 25 Scores

No. 3 Clovis 66, Dumas (TX) 29

No. 6 Goddard 84, Lovington 53

No. 13 Capital 60, Taos 41

No. 16 Mayfield 49, Chaparral 30

No. 21 Valencia 55, Moriarty 53

No. 24 St, Mike's 42, Bernalillo 33

No. 25 Grants 61, Bloomfield 41

Periman (TX) 65, No. 10 Hobbs 42

Shiprock 75, No. 12 Piedra Vista 63

Hondo 53, NMMI 42

Deming 43, Silver 33

Kirtland Central 66, Miyamura 33

Lordsburg 60, Cobre 45

Los Lunas 79, Santa Fe 29

Santa Teresa 61, Clint (TX)

Tularosa 60, Dexter 44

Wingate 51, Aztec 38