Santa Fe is 8-2 against El Rancho since February of 2020 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Santa Fe Chiefs are taking a road trip to face off against the El Rancho Dons at 7:00 p.m. Santa Fe has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Santa Fe's usually-dominant defense will be looking to make up for Wednesday's struggle, when Whittier offense got past them. Santa Fe had just enough and edged Whittier out 59-56. Given the Chiefs' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 318th, while the Cardinals are ranked 705th), the result on Wednesday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Abigail Cetina
| 01/15/25 @ Whittier | 7 |
| 12/27/23 vs Bravo | 5 |
| 12/29/23 @ Bishop Conaty-Loretto | 5 |
| 12/02/24 vs Charter Oak | 5 |
| 12/06/24 vs El Rancho | 5 |
Santa Fe's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Abigail Cetina, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine boards. The dominant performance also gave Cetina a new career-high in steals (seven). Roxy Beltran was another key player, going 9 of 19 on her way to 21 points and eight steals.
Meanwhile, it may have taken double overtime to finish the job, but El Rancho ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They pulled ahead with a 56-55 photo finish over California.
El Rancho found their leader in sophomore Emery Riker, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 18 rebounds. Riker is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Alexis Saucillo, who posted six points and seven steals.
El Rancho smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in three consecutive matchups.
Santa Fe's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-2. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.4 points per game. As for El Rancho, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-5 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Santa Fe against El Rancho when the teams last played back in December of 2024, as the team secured a 55-26 win. Will Santa Fe repeat their success, or does El Rancho have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
