The Rio Rancho High School boys basketball team gets two tune-ups this weekend for the first Southwest Oil & Gas Association Classic next week at the Rams Athletic Center.

And, just like last week, the Rams will be facing a team for the second time in a week.

Rio Rancho (3-4) entertains Manzano (5-3) at 7 p.m. in the RAC Friday evening, then heads to Highland for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Saturday. The Oil & Gas Classic takes place next Thursday through Saturday, with three top-notch games each day, capped by the Rams against an out-of-state opponent each evening. The Rams were beaten by the Monarchs, 66-57, Saturday evening in the Sandia High gym.

On Dec. 13, the Rams were beaten by Eldorado in a semifinal game of the Joe Armijo Classic at Academy, then faced the Eagles again Dec. 13 at Sandia.

They’ll be hoping for a better fate this time in their second meeting with the Monarchs, not quite the same team the Rams beat 75-65 in The Pit for the 5A blue trophy last March. The Monarchs lost former head coach Greg Brown to new Volcano Vista High; Travis Julian, a former MHS assistant, is the new head coach.

As it had done in its two losses to the Monarchs’ District 5-5A foe, Eldorado, the Rams suffered a second-half collapse.

Rio Rancho led after the first period, 18-12, and took a 34-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Manzano’s 16-12 third-period edge meant the teams were knotted at 46 with eight minutes to go.

That’s when the Monarchs put the game away, using a 20-11 advantage for their nine-point win.

Marcus Williams led the Rams with 15 points while Chris Newsome joined him in double figures with 13.

Rounding out the Rams scorers were Nick Perro with 9, Jorel Johnson with 5, Isaac Aragon and Ivan Jackson added 4 apiece, Mike Apodaca chipped in with 3, and Seth Baldwin and Josh Walker contributed 2 apiece.

Ryan Jesiakowski led MHS with 15, which included a pair of 3-pointers.

The Monarchs were knocked into the consolation bracket after a 58-42 loss to Academy on Thursday, when the Rams were relegated into the consolation bracket after a 68-62 loss to Eldorado.

Manzano beat Oñate 66-56 on Friday, using a 27-19 third-period advantage to pull away from what had been a 21-17 lead at halftime.

The Rams beat winless Del Norte on Friday for the right to meet Manzano for fifth place.

Rams 66, Del Norte 35: Johnson scored a career-high 13 points in leading the Rams to the easy victory, keyed by their 21-4 lead by the end of the first period.

The 4A Knights, who were 21-7 last season behind sharp-shooting senior Scott Bamforth, were no match for the Rams the rest of the way.

Rio Rancho went on to win each of the final three periods, 14-10, 16-11 and 15-11, respectively, and finished with twice as many field goals (22 to 11) as the Knights. A dozen Rams wound up in the scorebook, led by Johnson’s big day: Seniors Williams, Newsome and Aragon had 9 apiece, Perro had 6 — off the strength of his game-high two 3-pointers, Elijah Wolfe scored 5, Baldwin had 4, Ryan McGinnis and Josh Quintana added 2 apiece, and Kyle Stephenson had 1.

Ram dunks: It took Rio Rancho 13 games to escape the doldrums in Smith’s first year, as the Rams were two games under .500 that season before evening their record at 6-6 and then finishing 20-9 after a state tournament quarterfinal loss to Alamogordo. There were no such doldrums last season, when the Rams split their first two games before winning 29 straight en route to the 5A title.

... The Rams still hold an edge over the Monarchs, 7-6 all time. The Rams and Highland have split 14 meetings; the Rams beat the Hornets 69-55 last Dec. 16 at the RAC, one night after a three-point win over Manzano.

... Keep an eye on Highland’s Chad Adams: UNM’s new coach, Steve Alford apparently has and Adams has a scholarship to play for the Lobos and an offer from Marquette to mull over. The Hornets dipped to 6-2 after falling to Cibola 65-57 in the APS Farmers West tournament championship game Saturday evening. Alford was in attendance at that game, which followed his Lobos’ impressive 80-63 romp over Texas Tech in The Pit.