Fourteenth-seeded Clovis visits third-seeded Rio Rancho for the second time this season, as the Wildcats and host Lady Rams meet for the third time in a Round of 16 playoff game Friday at 7 p.m. in the Rams Athletic Center.

The winner heads to a state quarterfinal game Tuesday at The Pit. The winner turns in its gear.

Both teams lost in their district championship games Saturday. The Rams dropped their second game in a row to visiting Cibola in 1-5A while Clovis lost the 4-5A title tilt at Hobbs. The Rams beat the Wildcats 43-34 in a Mel Otero Invitational semifinal game at the RAC on Dec. 14, then beat the ‘Cats 39-31 on Jan. 26 at Rock Staubus Gym at CHS.

Didn’t someone once say it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season, Rams coach Bob McIntyre was asked.

Yeah, he acknowledged, but his team has made improvements since late January and senior Ashley Rhoades didn’t play against Clovis at The Rock.

Let this be known: McIntyre has taken teams to the state tournament for the last 10 seasons (including this year’s); the Rams’ best finish came in 2001, when they beat Clovis in the third-place game at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces.

“It’s never easy when you get to the state tournament,” he said.

Friday’s winner meets the winner of the Alamogordo-Rio Grande game Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. in a state quarterfinal game at The Pit.

McIntyre said he was happy with the 3 seed, even though his Rams fell to Cibola in the 1-5A title game; NMAA rules prohibit a team that won its regular-season title being seeded below the district championship game winner. Thus, Cibola, which has wins over top-seeded La Cueva and second-seeded Eldorado, couldn’t get a better seed than the Rams, who beat the Cougars twice in the regular season.

“I think the (seeding) committee rewarded us,” he said. “We couldn’t ask for a better situation in terms of seeding.”

McIntyre knows the Wildcats have one of the state’s best coach, Miles Watters, but he also knows, “He can’t shoot, dribble or pass it but you know they’ll be prepared and ready.”

McIntyre’s team looked anything but ready Saturday evening.

Cibola 53, Rams 43: A 9-0 first-quarter run was impressive and gave the Rams a 9-4 lead when the first period ended, but Shayla Flores pumped in 10 points during a 12-0 Cougars run, helping the visitors grab a 24-16 lead by halftime.

Zalika Dyson poured in 15 points in the third period, when the Cougars extended their lead to a comfortable 16.

The Rams could get no closer than 12 until the waning moments, although McIntyre said he felt his team had a chance. “I thought we finished the game pretty strong.”

The Rams out-scored the Cougars 13-7 over the final 5:25 but couldn’t overcome the heroics of Flores and Dyson, who finished with 14 and 26 points, respectively.

“I thought we had early control of the game,” he said. “We weren’t able to stop (Flores). They were attacking us; I thought we corrected that in the second half.”

If they did, they had no answer for the inside game of Dyson.

“Cibola stepped up,” he concluded, happy his former assistant coach, Lori Stephenson, has done so well in her two years down the hill.

Megan Muniz led the Rams with 22 points. Rhoades had 9, Kelsea Hawkins added 4, Tracy Fosterling and Ashlynn Steffensen had 3 apiece, and Amanda Solwick chipped in with 2.

Ram dunks: As it turned out, the Rams were the only regular-season district champs that lost Saturday. In other district championship games, La Cueva beat Sandia in 2-5A, Las Cruces whipped Alamogordo 54-44 in 3-5A, Hobbs edged Clovis 39-38 in 4-5A and Eldorado topped Los Lunas 63-49 in 5-5A.

... Muniz was named the 1-5A Player of the Year. Joining her on the All-District first team were Rams Rhoades, Fosterling and Courtney Solwick. Amanda Solwick was an honorable mention selection.

... The Rams girls were the 7 seed in 2006 and No. 8 last season.