Basketball Recap: Cristal Hernandez Cordero's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Del Norte over Albuquerque Academy

Del Norte lost against Albuquerque Academy back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The Del Norte Knights lost to the Albuquerque Academy Chargers on the road by a 62-45 margin. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 73rd, while the Chargers are ranked 17th).

Cristal Hernandez Cordero

Points (Career)

02/13/25 @ Albuquerque Academy	13
11/26/24 vs Cottonwood Classical Prep	12
01/28/25 vs Albuquerque Academy	7
12/20/24 @ Manzano	7
12/07/24 vs Las Cruces	7

Several Knights players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Cristal Hernandez Cordero, who posted 13 points and six rebounds. The dominant performance gave Hernandez Cordero a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Samantha Mitchell, who put up six points.

Albuquerque Academy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Addie Spratley, who scored 15 points. Spratley is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in each of the last nine games she's played. Melissa Purcella was another key player, putting up 17 points.

Del Norte is on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 8-16. As for Albuquerque Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 16 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 21-4 record this season.

Del Norte didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 60-38 win against Valley on the 18th. As for Albuquerque Academy, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 50-44 victory against Bernalillo on the 19th.