“Oh-eight, baby,” was all Rio Rancho’s Kyle Stephenson said as he headed toward the Rams’ dressing room Tuesday evening after Rio Rancho had whipped host La Cueva 77-66.

It is a new year, literally and figuratively for the Rams, last season’s Class 5A champs, who ended their blue-trophy season on a 29-game winning streak.

Through the Rams’ first baker’s dozen of games this season, though, the team was an unimpressive 5-8. Third-year coach Brian Smith said his team’s record is deceptive because of the caliber of teams it’s faced and that record could look even uglier when the Rams find themselves heading into their nine-game District 1-5A slate.

Four of the Rams’ losses (two apiece) are to Eldorado and Manzano, the team they beat in the 5A title tilt last March; there also are losses to Highland, which features one of the state’s top college prospects, Chad Adams, and Basha High (Chandler, Ariz.) and Midwest City, Okla.

Looming are battles at Valley High’s Warren G. Smart Gym, always a tough place to play, Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Rams already have beaten the Vikings, 71-65, this season; that came in the third-place game at the Armijo Classic at Academy on Dec. 8.

The Rams are 1-7 all-time at VHS, where they last won in 2002 — a contest at the RAC against Eldorado (Jan. 19), then at No. 1 Hobbs (Jan. 25) and undefeated Clovis (Jan. 26).

The Rams’ first district game is Jan. 23 at West Mesa, which precedes the games at Hobbs and Clovis.

The Rams ended 2007 with a satisfying 71-68 loss to the Midwest City Bombers on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. At the time, Smith proclaimed Midwest City as one of the best teams in the Sooner State.

“They basically kept the momentum from the Midwest City game,” he said. “We just built off that. Our whole thing now is it’s a new year n let’s forget about what happened in (the latter half) of 2007.

“I told them two years ago our season, this game at La Cueva, was kind of the catalyst for the rest of the season. … We got that first half of the season stuff out of the way; it’s time to focus on the rest of the season,, play like we should be able to play.”

In that last visit to La Cueva, the Bears entered the 2006 calendar year with a 71-58 victory, giving them a winning record (7-6) for the first time that season; they went on from there to finish 20-9, claiming along the way their first 1-5A championship and first postseason appearance, a63-58 loss to Alamogordo in a 5A quarterfinal game in The Pit.

“This is no different: Come out here and play with some intensity and just play together and tonight was a total team effort.”

The Rams’ bench supplied 20 points to the cause.

Smith said he hoped the victory over the Bears will ultimately lead to an edge when the state tournament field is seeded; La Cueva always contends for the District 2-5A title.

The Rams have owned the Bears since their first meeting back on Jan. 15, 2003, a 69-59 homecourt win for La Cueva. Rio Rancho has won the last six meetings, including a state semifinal last season.

Ram dunks: Smith and the Rams were guests on KOB-TV’s “GameDay” program on Jan. 4.