Basketball Recap: Jayda Haley's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Sabino over Payson

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Sabino can now relate to. They took a hard 60-44 fall against the Payson Longhorns on Friday.

Jayda Haley

Rebounds

02/21/25 @ Payson	9
02/17/25 @ Pusch Ridge Christian Academy	14
02/13/25 vs Alchesay	10

Sabino's defeat came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jayda Haley, who almost dropped a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Haley has been hot recently, having posted nine or more boards the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Chayil Combs, who posted 14 points.

Payson got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Clara Whaley out in front who almost dropped a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. The dominant performance gave Whaley a new career-high in boards. Another player making a difference was Hannah Sarnowski, who dropped a double-double with 11 points and ten assists.

Sabino's loss dropped their record down to 18-11. As for Payson, they are on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 15 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 26-6 record this season.

Sabino does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Payson, they will take on Chinle at 8:00 p.m. on February 28th. Payson's defense has only allowed 29.1 points per game this season, so Chinle's offense will have their work cut out for them.