Basketball Preview: Rio Grande Ravens vs. Santa Fe Demons
Rio Grande has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against the Santa Fe Demons at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Rio Grande focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Friday.
Last Friday, Rio Grande had to suffer through a rough 70-40 loss at the hands of the Tigers. While losing is never fun, Rio Grande can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 65th, while the Tigers are ranked 14th).
Despite the loss, Rio Grande had strong showings from Santiago Gonzalez, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds, and Eliseo Velasquez, who scored 13 points. That was a full 35% of Rio Grande's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe beat the Jaguars 65-54 on Friday. The win made it back-to-back wins for Santa Fe.
Rio Grande dropped their record down to 5-13 with that loss, which was their seventh straight at home. As for Santa Fe, they have been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight games, which lines up perfectly with their 15-5 record this season.
Rio Grande was taken down by the Demons 65-32 in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. Can Rio Grande avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
