Video/Recap: Sandia Shows Off Fun and Gun Hoops In Santa Fe

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SANTA FE</strong> – Sandia boys basketball is perfectly described in seven words: We run, we gun, we have fun.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Matadors brought their entertaining and crowd-pleasing high tempo style to Santa Fe Thursday night for a District 5A-2 matchup against Capital at Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a closely contested first half, Sandia erupted for 51 second half points to pull away from the Jaguars for an 88-54 victory. The third quarter was classic Matadors basketball as 3-point bombs, length-of-the court passes, frantic fast breaks, beautiful behind the back dishes, awe-inspiring alley-oop lobs and other joyful things rained down on Capital.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia scored 34 points in the third quarter to turn a 37-30 halftime lead into a 71-45 rout, guaranteeing the fourth quarter was mostly filled with reserves on both teams gaining valuable varsity experience.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Career 1,000-point scorer <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2714567' first='Isaiah' last='Brown']</strong> (and he's only a sophomore) led a balanced Sandia offense attack with 16 points. However, after draining a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, Brown settled in and was largely content with feeding his talented teammates and playing ball-hawking defense. He added 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 8 steals to his team-high 16-point tally.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brown was 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2980447' first='Malachi' last='Knox']</strong> contributed 14 points, a team high 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1698809' first='Lavodrick' last='Hogues'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2300009' first='Jacob' last='Dawes']</strong> added 12 points apiece. Hogues also had 7 steals and 5 assists. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2216279' first='Dion' last='Cumber']</strong> scored 11 points with 5 rebounds and 6 assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia drained 14 3-pointers. Exactly half of their total shots attempts (34 of 68) came from behind the arc. In addition to Brown's 5 triples, Dawes and Cumber had 3 each, Hogues 2 and sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2975154' first='Carlito' last='Garley']</strong> 1. Five different Matadors recorded a 3-pointer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>How impressive was Sandia's ball movement? The Matadors registered 29 assists on their 34 field goals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Capital battled early. A trio of 3-pointers gave the Jaguars an early 10-8 lead. But triples by Brown and Cumber lifted Sandia into a 17-14 lead after the first quarter. The Jaguars continued to shoot the ball well in the early stages of the second quarter as the score was tied at 19-19 with five minutes left before halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two 3-pointers by Cumber and another by Dawes in less than two minutes highlighted an 11-0 Sandia surge to give the Matadors a 30-19 lead with 3:19 left in the second quarter. Capital, though, exited a timeout and promptly went ripped off seven straight points to cut the deficit to four at 30-26.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dawes snapped the run with a 3-pointer. Sandia closed out the second quarter with a 7-4 run to give them a 37-30 halftime lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia's third quarter domination began from the tip. The Matadors scored five quick points to force the Jaguars into calling a timeout just 44 seconds into the period. Later, three 3-pointers in quick succession gave Sandia a 59-40 lead. The final triple featured impeccable ball movement in which at least four players touched the basketball before Hogues drained a 3 from the corner.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six-foot-3, 215-popunt [player_tooltip player_id='2215933' first='Mateo' last='Hogan'] scored several baskets from close range in the final minutes as Sandia led, 71-45, after the third quarter and cruised home from there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 1: First Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/tOzKqnCwTUQ?si=EwyLhENOOjDTqIbg","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/tOzKqnCwTUQ?si=EwyLhENOOjDTqIbg </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 2: Second Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/qjYf_FOB8U0?si=wljIq7hv-FEEVc10","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/qjYf_FOB8U0?si=wljIq7hv-FEEVc10 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 3: Third Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/WED66TvrLWw?si=uTVkLEe3ZJoO58wG","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/WED66TvrLWw?si=uTVkLEe3ZJoO58wG </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>            </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->