Sandia shakes loose of La Cueva, heads back to 5A final

Mar. 13—La Cueva overcame one sluggish start. The Bears could not handle another one in the same game.

Sandia, as it has done several times to La Cueva this season, opened the game with a huge run. The Bears counterpunched this time Thursday morning, but the Matadors authored another blazing start to the second half, going on an 18-2 run, and that was plenty to send the Bears to the deck and to send Class 5A's No. 2 seed to the state championship game.

Sandia's 64-35 victory in the Class 5A semifinals at the Pit allows the Matadors (29-1 and winners of 16 games in a row) to make an official defense of their 2024 title. They'll face No. 1 Hobbs at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Pit.

"So happy that we're in the championship," Sandia senior guard Sydney Benally said following a 24-point, nine-rebound performance.

Sandia outscored La Cueva 38-15 after halftime. And this scene looked all too familiar to La Cueva.

Sandia started one District 2-5A matchup against La Cueva with a 16-2 burst. Then, in the 2-5A tournament final two weeks ago, the Matadors scored the first 20 before La Cueva got on the board.

Thursday, Sandia got out to a 14-2 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Benally. Chloe Brown also drained a pair of 3s in that quick start.

But La Cueva rebounded impressively. With junior guard Jordyn Dyer leading the way, the Bears not only erased that 12-point deficit but inched in front 18-15 with 5 1/2 minutes to go in the first half.

That was about the last positive thing that happened to La Cueva.

Benally, who earlier in the morning had been chosen as the New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, once again drained back-to-back 3s. Her sister Kaiyah, connected from distance, too, and Sandia led 24-18.

It was 26-20 at halftime.

And then things spiraled quickly for the sixth-seeded Bears (22-8), who were turned over six times in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.

"It's the same mantra," Sandia coach Lee Kettig said. Moving Kaiyah Benally over to defend Dyer was the one key change on defense coming out of halftime, he said. "Once we start playing defense, the run is gonna come. And it did."

Said Kaiyah Benally: "I took it as a challenge. Just imagine her as Sydney but I was just a little quicker, and I could kind of read what her next move (would be)."

Sandia scored the first 14 points of the third quarter. Hope Giddings opened with a layup. A turnover led to a Kaiyah Benally basket. Another turnover led to a Sydney Benally layup. Yet another turnover led to a Sydney Benally 3-pointer. By then it was 35-20 less than two minutes into the second half.

"We just love giving them pressure and making them make fast decisions," Sydney Benally said. She knocked down another 3 at the 5:15 mark for a 40-20 bulge.

La Cueva committed 10 turnovers in the pivotal third quarter, which were turned into 16 points by Sandia.

"They are a veteran team, a talented team all-around, and they make you pay when you make mistakes," La Cueva coach Marisa Cogan said.

La Cueva will return 11 of its 13 players, including Dyer, next season. She finished with 11 points Thursday.

"La Cueva, to me, they're the third-best team in the state. That's how I feel," Kettig said.

Meanwhile, his veteran team moves forward.

"We knew they wanted it just as bad as we did," said Giddings, a senior wing. She scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds Thursday. "We had more experience. We've been here before, so we knew we just needed to take care of business."

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