Basketball Recap: Rio Rancho Takes a Tough Playoff Loss

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Rio Rancho can now relate to. They took a 60-43 bruising from the Sandia Matadors on Tuesday. The Rams haven't had much luck with the Matadors recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.

Larissa Martinez

Steals

03/11/25 vs Sandia	4
03/07/25 vs Los Lunas	3
02/28/25 @ Farmington	2
02/26/25 @ Volcano Vista	6
02/25/25 vs Piedra Vista	2
+ 11 more games

Daysia Jack and Larissa Martinez certainly did their best on Tuesday to avoid the loss. Jack posted 18 points and five rebounds, while Martinez scored 12 points and four steals. Martinez is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in each of the last 16 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Madilynn Martinez, who put up six points and eight boards.

Even though they lost, Rio Rancho was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. This was only their sixth loss (out of 23 games) when they've passed the ball that well.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sandia to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kaiyah Benally, who shot 75% from the field en route to 16 points and six rebounds. That's the most points Benally has posted since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Hope Giddings, who went 5-for-8 on her way to 15 points and seven boards.

Rio Rancho's defeat dropped their record down to 21-11. As for Sandia, the victory was the 15th in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 28-1.

Rio Rancho does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Sandia, they have already played their next contest, a 64-35 win against La Cueva on the 13th.