Rio Grande chills Santa Fe High's shooting in district contest
-
Loading... - Ruiz Rocio
- 06 Feb 2023
- 65 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
The Santa Fe High Demons endured an exercise in futility Wednesday night.
Their goal: To score on a rim on the east side of the Rio Grande basketball court that appeared to have a seal on it for much of the second half for the District 5-5A-leading Demons.
Twenty-eight times, they tried to penetrate it. Twenty-two times, they failed.
Furrowed brows showed the Demons’ mounting frustration — much to the delight of the home crowd and the Ravens. Coupled with a 17-point, 14-rebound performance by 6-foot-5 junior post Santiago Gonzales, Rio Grande slowed down Santa Fe High’s feel-good turnaround story with a 54-50 win. The Ravens (11-8 overall, 3-2 in 5-5A) beat the Demons for the second time this season, after downing them 55-52 in the opening round of the Jalene Berger Holiday Classic at Rio Rancho on Dec. 28, and halted Santa Fe High’s six-game winning streak.
Rio Grande’s win, coupled with Los Lunas’ 73-44 win over Albuquerque High, created a tie between the Demons (13-8 overall) and the Tigers for first place in 5-5A at 4-1. It also left a bitter taste in Santa Fe High’s mouth — its litany of misses on the court mimicked the missed chance it had at running undefeated through the first half of the district season.
“We just couldn’t hit a shot,” Demons head coach Zack Cole said. “We couldn’t hit our [3-pointers], we couldn’t hit our shots down low. We couldn’t hit free throws. But it’s part of the game, and we know that.”
In the moment, though, it sure seems unfair. Santa Fe High created good opportunities, driving and kicking out to open shooters and getting into the lane for close-range shots. With the Demons within 51-47 with less than a minute left, leading scorer Lukas Turner had three tries to score inside of 5 feet but none of them tickled the bottom of the net before Gonzales grabbed the rebound to quell the comeback threat once and for all.
It didn’t matter what kind of shot the Demons got — it wasn’t going in.
“It was pretty frustrating,” said senior post Rob Martinez. “We just gotta learn how to keep our heads when stuff isn’t going our way and finish what we can finish.” Read More…
