ALBUQUERQUE — The defending Class 5A state champion Cleveland High boys basketball team built an early lead and then survived two second-half scoring droughts during their 63-47 victory at Albuquerque High Tuesday evening.
The Storm were playing the Bulldogs in both schools’ opener for the third time in the past four seasons; Cleveland beat them 79-62 at Bulldog City to start the 2019-20 season, following a 103-72 trouncing in the Thunderdome to tip off the 2018-19 season.
Cleveland scored the game’s first seven points and soon had a double-digit lead — as much as a dozen, 15-3, before the first quarter ended. When it did, CHS had an 18-9 lead.
Sinking six 3-pointers — form only nine attempts — in the second period, the Storm had a commanding 42-24 lead at halftime.
And the Storm went on to win, despite those scoring outages in the second half.
Read more about this game and what coach Sean Jimenez had to say in the Dec. 5 edition of the Observer!
The Storm’s Elijah McNeil (5) skies to defend a first-half shot at Bulldog City Tuesday evening.
