Rams send Santa Fe back on I-25

RIO RANCHO- The Rio Rancho High School Girls Basketball team (6-2) defeated the Santa Fe Demons (4-3) at home Dec. 18.

The final: Rio Rancho 51, Santa Fe 14.

"We came out we did not have as much energy as we needed but we did the job and we did what we needed to do," assistant coach Eric Jack said.

The Rams set the tone from the first whistle, and began the night on an impressive 18-0 run.

"We played a lot of team ball," freshman Larissa Martinez said.

A stingy defender for the Rams squad was senior Jayme Archuleta who finished the night with three steals but her impact extended beyond the stat sheets due to some active hands and tight coverage.

Freshman Madilynn Martinez had a nice night, and collected a team-high four steals to go along with seven points.

"We just knew that we had to steal the ball, and run our offense," Madilynn said.

At halftime, it was a lopsided 22-3 match. In fact, the Rams would have still won the game if they didn't score a single point all night.

"It was slow in the first quarter but after we got going, I think that we just took off from there," junior Lilly Martinez said.

The Rams 18-point third quarter put this one to bed.

Rams sophomore Daysia Jack led the team in points with nine on the night. She also had a couple of assists and three steals.

Another sophomore contributing big was Jemmah Estrada who scored eight points, and dominated in the paint.

Rio Rancho will be back at it Dec. 19 to face off against the Atrisco Heritage Academy squad (1-6) at home. Tipoff is 7 p.m.