Sydney Benally drops 35 points as Sandia rallies for 5A girls title

There were no surprises for Lee Kettig on Saturday afternoon. Sandia girls’ coach knew all too well the hours that had been put in by the Matadors, the time it took to set up the poise they’d need in a 12-point comeback win in the semis, the resiliency he expected to see from his team down in the final.

“This team is one of the ones you feel like, it’s gonna find a way,” he said in a postgame press conference. “The state tournament comes down to woman-on-woman battles, one-on-one — are we gonna get that loose ball, are we gonna get that rebound? Shots weren’t falling, we started to attack the basket, started to get up and play defense.

“And good things happened.”

On Saturday, Sandia found its way back to the summit.

Sydney Benally scored a game-high 35 points as the second-seeded Matadors leaned on their defense in the fourth quarter to come back and beat No. 4 Volcano Vista 49-45 for their first 5A state title since 2017.

Benally, named the Gatorade Player of the Year on Thursday, symbolized the Matadors’ resiliency, scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter. No other Sandia player scored in double figures; Benally’s sister, Kaiyah, added six points and Nadia Randall scored four.

“Even though our shots weren’t falling, we had to still keep our same effort and just switching up our defense to full court man, I feel like that got us out of that — whatever we were in, that rut,” Benally said. “And then getting to the rim. This whole game was just defensive play, I’d say.”

Taejhuan “TT” Hill led Volcano Vista with 19 points and 20 rebounds (13 defensive, seven offensive) and Mila Espinoza had 11 points. Lilliana Duncan and Jalysa Hines both chipped in four points each.

After a grinding first half that saw both teams shoot a combined 22.6% from the field (the Matadors made just one basket in the second quarter), the Hawks seized control in the third quarter off Hill’s 11 third-quarter points and a Sandia offense that simply couldn’t hit the shots they needed.

For most of the first three quarters, Volcano Vista asserted it’s dominance on the boards, outrebounding Sandia 21-12 on the offensive glass to set up second chance after second chance.

Watching this unfold, Kettig opted to start pressing at the start of the fourth — and it was far from a difficult decision.

“It is our go-to for coaches, not for the (players), but the acronym of Keep It Simple Stupid, right?” he added. “We’ve all heard it, I know what my kids are capable of and at some point, when the pace isn’t our way and the shots aren’t falling, as a coach it’s the Keep It Simple Stupid in my mind going over and over and over again. As you can see here, I’ll take my kids in the full court versus anybody in this state as a group of five.”

Sandia rewarded their coach almost immediately, as Audri Wright knocked down a Hawks pass seconds into the fourth and passed it over to Benally for an and-one basket to make it 32-28.

In total, the Matadors stole the ball eight times and Volcano Vista turned it over 11 times in the final eight minutes.

“You just let them go,” Kettig added. “And that’s my coaching move, and they do it. If they don’t run, if they don’t play hard, if they don’t play together, that looks crazy, right? It looks good because they’re working their butt off.”

A pair of Benally free throws pushed the Matadors into a 35-34 lead with a little over five minutes remaining.

The teams traded leads three times over a frenetic few minutes before the younger Benally tied it at 41.

On a drive to the basket, her older sister put Sandia up for good with less than two minutes left. The Hawks drew within one off Duncan’s bucket with under a minute to go, but Benally closed it out with three made free throws.

Sandia has now won five state titles (2024, 2017, 2010, 2017, 1996). Kettig celebrated his second as the Matadors’ head coach by turning to his bench and wildly pumping his fist before standing on the sideline with his head down and hands on his knees, a different feeling washing over him.

“Personally, (it’s) been a tough couple of years — lost some people and different things,” he said afterward. “This is what I love to do in life and to watch a group of young women show — you win the game, yes — but to show that determination and that grit and win it the way we did, it just hit me dramatically at that moment.

“That all those morning practices and different things are so unbelievably worth it.”

Benally agreed. It wasn’t much of a surprise.

“Just like Coach Kettig (said), early mornings, late night practices, just — it’s not more of like (a feeling of) relief, but just like happiness and giving all the glory to God. Just knowing he put together this team for so many years and just (being) glad to be here.”

NO. 2 SANDIA 49, NO. 4 VOLCANO VISTA 45

Sandia (28-3): Sydney Benally 35, Kaiyah Benally 6, Nadia Randall 4, Audri Wright 2, Hope Giddings 1, Chloe Brown 1. Totals: 14-48 FG, 20-25 FT.

Volcano Vista (24-6): Taejhuan “TT” Hill 19, Mila Espinoza 11, Jalysa Hines 4, Lilliana Duncan 4, Adriana Zavala 3, Faith Ortiz 2, LaLa Garcia 2.

Sandia 10 4 12 23 — 49

Volcano Vista 10 4 12 23 — 45

3-point field goals: Sandia 1-24 (Benally 1); Volcano Vista 1-14 (Espinoza 1) Rebounds: Sandia 34 (Wright 8); Volcano Vista 46 (Hill 20). Assists: Sandia 5 (Wright, Benally 5); Volcano Vista 6 (Espinoza, Hill 2). Total fouls: Sandia 17; Volcano Vista 23. Turnovers: Sandia 6; Volcano Vista 16. Shooting percentages: Sandia 22.7 first half, 29.2 game; Volcano Vista 22.6% first half, 26.4% game.