Sandia takes down La Cueva in unlikely, but important, win

This Sandia High School boys basketball season can be defined, in part, by its injured reserve list — a list, it’s worth noting, that has never been nameless.

Despite that, the Matadors updated their script on Friday night.

Yes, No. 6-ranked Sandia hasn’t played a single game this season at full strength, including this one, but the Matadors went into La Cueva on Friday and earned their most important and timely win of the season, a hugely entertaining 60-58 result over the fifth-ranked Bears.

Sandia (15-7) pulled even with La Cueva (16-6) for first place in District 2-5A. Both are 5-1 in league play, and have beaten the other on the road. There are four games left in the regular season for each.

“We’ve been chasing our best basketball, and people are underestimating us a little bit,” Sandia coach Danny Brown said. “We’ve got a good group that plays hard and is connected, and I think our toughness and our connection won us the game tonight.”

It was a frantic fourth quarter between the rivals.

Junior guard Malachi Knox, a transfer from Atrisco Heritage, scored 12 of his 14 points for Sandia over the final eight minutes. His last bucket put the Matadors in front 59-55 with 2:18 left.

Kobe Cooper of La Cueva knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 40 seconds to go to cut the deficit to a single point.

With 10.8 seconds left, Isaiah Brown of Sandia made one out of two free throws, for a 60-58 lead. And Brown then fouled Drew Bramlett of La Cueva, sending him to the line with 8.9 seconds showing and a chance to tie the game.

Bramlett missed both tries. On the rebound of the second, the ball was tied up and the possession arrow favored the Bears with 6.6 seconds to go.

After a timeout, La Cueva was underneath its basket along the baseline when it tried to inbound to its big, Hunter Butler, but the pass was challenged. Nobody ever really got full possession of the ball, which fell to the floor and rolled around for a couple of seconds before the clock ran out.

“Nobody could pick it up. Literally, the ball bounced our way," coach Brown said. "We were fortunate enough to come away with a win, but we deserved it.”

The Matadors, a state finalist last March, have been without standout sophomore guard Gad Harris all season, tracing back to a leg injury he incurred during football. Another transfer guard, George Smith, who has been struggling to stay healthy, was out of the lineup Friday, having rolled an ankle at a recent practice.

Which made Friday’s win all the more impressive.

“Well, I knew it was certainly possible,” Brown said. “Nobody else did.”

Knox, who didn’t play his first game for Sandia until early January, had been quiet most of the way before exploding with a handful of close-range buckets in the fourth quarter.

“He played super fantastic, and that’s why he’s here,” Brown said. “He adds a lot to us.”

It is unknown if Sandia will get its top three guards — Isaiah Brown, Harris and Smith, plus now Knox — on the floor together before the season ends.

But the Matadors now have an opening to perhaps win the 2-5A regular season, which is something they could not have done without this victory.

There were nine lead changes. Sandia owned eight-point leads in both the second and third quarters, but La Cueva overcame both of them.

Isaiah Brown led Sandia with 18 points.

“We knew we didn’t have George, we had to work around that,” said Knox, a 6-1 junior. “I knew we had to score and play defense and stop them … I had to do what I had to do, and it worked out.”

And, Knox hinted, if Sandia can somehow get back to full strength by March, watch out.

“When (Gad) comes back, it’ll be a big change. We need George too, but we know with all the things this team has been through … we have to have a good flow, no matter what.”

Butler and Tony Trujillo each had 14 points for La Cueva. Trujillo was clutch in the fourth quarter, nailing three 3s to keep the Bears in it.

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at @JamesDYodice.