On Saturday, Sandia faced La Cueva in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Sandia Matadors took an 80-74 hit to the loss column at the hands of the La Cueva Bears. The Matadors were up 42-27 in the second quarter but couldn't hold on to the lead.
Sandia's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Isaiah Brown, who posted 19 points. Brown has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Thomas Adams was another key player, putting up 15 points and seven boards.
Even though they lost, Sandia smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in four consecutive games.
La Cueva's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Hunter Butler, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Butler a new career-high in assists (four). Another player making a difference was Tony Trujillo, who went 8 of 17 on his way to 21 points and six boards.
Matadors
| 01/25/25 @ La Cueva | 74-80 |
| 01/23/25 vs Capital | 101-50 |
| 01/17/25 vs Albuquerque Academy | 74-67 |
| 01/15/25 @ Albuquerque | 66-49 |
| 01/11/25 vs Volcano Vista | 57-61 |
Sandia moved to 15-3 with that loss, which also ended their three-game winning streak. As for La Cueva, the victory was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-7.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Sandia will square off against Manzano at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Sandia knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 18 matches -- so hopefully Manzano likes a good challenge. As for La Cueva, they will challenge Capital at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. La Cueva is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.2 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
