Preview: El Rancho Dons vs. Santa Fe Chiefs
The El Rancho Dons will be playing at home against the Santa Fe Chiefs at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
El Rancho suffered their biggest defeat since November 22, 2023 on Friday. They ended up on the wrong side of a rough 56-35 walloping at the hands of La Serna. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for El Rancho in their matchups with La Serna: they've now lost seven in a row.
Despite the loss, El Rancho saw an underclassman step up: Emery Riker scored 21 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. That was a full 60% of El Rancho's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their fourth straight loss. They were dealt a 64-26 defeat at the hands of Whittier Christian. While losing is never fun, Santa Fe can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 750th, while Whittier Christian is ranked 344th).
El Rancho has not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 13-9 record this season. As for Santa Fe, they bumped their record down to 9-11 with that loss, which was their fourth straight on the road.
El Rancho couldn't quite finish off Santa Fe in their previous matchup back in January of 2023 and fell 61-58. Will El Rancho have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
