Video/Recap: Battle of District 5A-2 Unbeatens In Santa Fe

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SANTA FE</strong> – It took a series of fortuitous events to give La Cueva an opportunity to win Thursday night's District 5A-2 showdown at Santa Fe High in regulation. Both teams came into the game 3-0 in district play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When the decisive moment arrived, the Bears delivered.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six-foot-6 senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2694526' first='Hunter' last='Butler']</strong> rose up over a gaggle of Santa Fe defenders to tip in a near perfect inbounds lob pass from the baseline at the buzzer to lift La Cueva to a hard-fought 37-35 victory over the Demons in a defensive slugfest at Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bears improved to 15-5 overall, 4-0 in the district. Santa Fe (12-7, 3-1) and Sandia (13-7, 3-1) are now tied for second after Santa Fe's heartbreaking loss and Sandia's win over Eldorado. Those two teams square off Tuesday night in&nbsp; Santa Fe.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>La Cueva overcame a six-point deficit in the final couple of minutes to pull out the win. Santa Fe senior <strong>Sebastian Duty</strong>'s 3-pointer – one of several on the night for him – gave the Demons a 33-27 lead. But La Cueva immediately &nbsp;responded with a dunk in transition. Shortly thereafter, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2318843' first='Kobe' last='Cooper']</strong>'s putback basket with 1:37 left cut the deficit to two at 33-31.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fortune then smiled on La Cueva.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>First, Santa Fe made just two of four free throws on separate trips to the line to take a 35-31 lead with less than a minute remaining.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With La Cueva in must-score mode, Cooper drained an off-balance 3-pointer from the corner while being fouled with 34.4 seconds left. He hit the free throw to complete the improbable four-point play, which evened the score at 35-35.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Santa Fe held the ball with the clear intention of trying a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds. However, the Demons committed an unforced error when a Demon player lost possession of the ball near midcourt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>La Cueva's 3-point shot attempt from the wing clanged off the rim and caromed out of bounds off a Santa Fe player with 0.4 seconds left, handing the Bears one final opportunity. The inbounds pass from the baseline was perfectly placed about a foot in front of the rim and Butler, with not enough time to grab and shoot, leaped to tip it in. The ball graved the front of the rim and fell through as the buzzer sounded. Here's the video of the game-winning basket:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/L8lJE26-Hiw?si=i5gMN5a4rXcBQgdZ","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/L8lJE26-Hiw?si=i5gMN5a4rXcBQgdZ </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Butler's basket capped what otherwise had been a frustrating night offensively for the Bears. Cooper's triple and a lane jumper gave La Cueva an early 9-4 lead late in the first quarter. After that, though, the Bears' offense went stone cold. They didn't score a point for about 10 minutes as the Demons tallied 12 points in a row to take a 16-9 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2085694' first='Drew' last='Bramlett']'s free throws with 1:54 left were the Bears' first points of the second quarter. Butler's dunk with 40 seconds left allowed La Cueva to trail by just five points at halftime, 19-14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bramlett scored six points in the third quarter as La Cueva shaved Santa Fe's lead to 24-22 heading into the final quarter. In the final frame, La Cueva took a 27-26 lead before Santa Fe scored eight straight points for a 33-27 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 1: First Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/-jJhe0N6-Sg?si=jBwc9fR_s183ehgv","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/-jJhe0N6-Sg?si=jBwc9fR_s183ehgv </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 2: Second Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/vQyRAY-bp9A?si=V6QsrxQoOHOY6dkW","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/vQyRAY-bp9A?si=V6QsrxQoOHOY6dkW </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 3: Third Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/SciJpxltfn4?si=TrZfKiJRkxKe-G6b","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/SciJpxltfn4?si=TrZfKiJRkxKe-G6b </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 4: Final Four Minutes (Except Game-Winning Basket)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/eWgWE47WBhs?si=DbmNIAy7wf86Er2b","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/eWgWE47WBhs?si=DbmNIAy7wf86Er2b </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>District 5A-2 Standings (As of Jan. 30, 2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":3456474,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-30-at-14-23-16-5A-District-2-District-Basketball-Standings.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-30-at-14-23-16-5A-District-2-District-Basketball-Standings.png?w=677" alt="" class="wp-image-3456474" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: MaxPreps</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->