Sandia and Rio Rancho are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The Sandia Matadors will face off against the Rio Rancho Rams at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Sandia knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 13 matches -- so hopefully Rio Rancho likes a good challenge.
Sandia is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They strolled past Centennial with points to spare, taking the game 59-42. 59 seems to be a good number for the Matadors as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Sydney Benally
| 03/07/25 vs Centennial | 27 |
| 03/01/25 vs La Cueva | 15 |
| 02/20/25 vs Santa Fe | 19 |
| 02/18/25 @ Eldorado | 26 |
| 02/13/25 @ Manzano | 20 |
| + 4 more games |
Sydney Benally continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 11-for-21 on her way to 27 points along with six boards and three steals. Her evening made it nine games in a row in which she has scored at least 15 points. Nadia Randall was another key player, dropping a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.
Sandia was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Centennial only eight assists.
Meanwhile, Rio Rancho faced Los Lunas in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Rio Rancho came out on top against Los Lunas by a score of 56-45.
Rio Rancho found their leader in freshman Madilynn Martinez, who shot 60% from the field to rack up 24 points. Martinez has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last nine times she's played. Another player making a difference was Lilly Martinez, who posted seven points and six steals.
Rio Rancho has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games. That's provided a nice bump to their 21-10 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.5 points over those games. Sandia's win bumped their record up to 27-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Sandia has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Rio Rancho struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Sandia was able to grind out a solid victory over Rio Rancho in their previous matchup back in January, winning 52-44. Will Sandia repeat their success, or does Rio Rancho have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
