Storm girls beat Eldorado again, finish fifth at Joe Armijo Classic

Cleveland’s Aaliyah Ayanniyi starts a fast break in the Storm’s victory over Albuquerque Academy on Friday afternoon. (Herron photo)

After a runner-up finish the previous weekend at the Bobby Rodriguez tournament in Santa Fe, the Cleveland High girls basketball team beat Eldorado for the second time in five days to finish fifth in the annual Joe Armijo Girls Basketball Classic at Albuquerque Academy.

Storm 46, Eldorado 39: Cleveland (6-3) beat the Eagles 60-48 in the Thunderdome on Dec. 6, then held off the Eagles on Saturday to claim fifth place.

A strong second half keyed the win, as CHS trailed 24-22 at halftime, then outscored EHS 14-9 in the third quarter and 10-6 in the fourth, leading to the seven-point win.

Aubrey Jaramillo led the Storm with 13 points. Savannah Madueno was also in double figures with 11.

Storm 43, Academy 33: On Friday afternoon, an 11-0 run early in the second half took the Storm from a 23-21 deficit to a 32-23 lead, and they never trailed again.

There had been 10 lead changes in the game, as the teams played evenly throughout the opening half, which ended in a tie at 21.

Kindyll Sandoval paced that turnaround with two 3-pointers, on her way to 11 points for the game. Academy could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Jaramillo, a thorn in the Chargers’ side when they had the ball, had several assists and a team-high 12 points.

Farmington 61, Storm 45: The Scorpions’ Kapaliolani Anitielu was on fire in Thursday’s first-round content, draining four 3-pointers and finishing with 30 points for the Scorpions, who went on to meet and fall to Volcano Vista in Saturday’s championship game, 62-56.

Sandoval led the Storm with 15 points and Madueno added 11.

Storm warnings: The Storm head down I-25 to play at Mayfield on Friday, then are back in the Thunderdome on Saturday at 1:30 to meet Centennial, in a doubleheader with the Cleveland boys’ team.

… Next week, Cleveland is home Tuesday to face Santa Fe, then in Santa Fe on Wednesday to play Capital. Both varsity games tip off at about 7 p.m.