On Saturday, La Cueva faced Sandia in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The La Cueva Bears took a 52-43 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Sandia Matadors. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last eight times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Despite the loss, La Cueva still got an impressive performance from Tony Trujillo, who almost dropped a double-double with 15 points and nine boards. Trujillo is also on a roll when it comes to shooting accuracy, as he's posted one of at least 50% in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Drew Bramlett, who posted ten points.
Even though they lost, La Cueva smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've posted since back in December of 2024.
Zaire Ndyabagye continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Sandia, dropping a double-double with 16 points and 19 rebounds. Those 19 boards gave Ndyabagye a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Thomas Adams, who put up eight points.
Bears
| 03/01/25 @ Sandia | 43-52 |
| 02/28/25 vs Eldorado | 69-60 |
| 02/21/25 vs Manzano | 70-50 |
| 02/19/25 @ Santa Fe | 63-60 |
| 02/14/25 vs Capital | 80-50 |
La Cueva moved to 18-10 with that defeat, which also ended their five-game winning streak. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.4 points over those games. As for Sandia, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 24-3 record this season.
La Cueva and Sandia are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. La Cueva will face off against Cibola at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. As for Sandia, they will take on Rio Rancho at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Rio Rancho's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last nine contests.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
