The Rio Americano girls basketball team earned an easy victory Thursday to hold on to second place in the Capital Athletic League while Mira Loma could not find an answer to solve their season-long struggle as the Raiders defeated the Matadors 71-23 Thursday.

Rio junior forward-center Sierra Martinez led all scorers with 12 points. Mira Loma was led by junior guard Shireen Sayareh with 11 points.

With the win, the Raiders improved to 7-1 in league play and 17-8 overall while the Matadors are still seeking its first league win of the season at 0-8 and 1-19 overall.

Rio led the entire game at Mira Loma's gym and out-hustled the Matadors on nearly every play. Issues with communication during plays occurred during a few moments of the game for Mira Loma as well. Rio Americano had a 41-9 lead at halftime.

With two games left in the season, Rio Americano is shifting their focus on facing third place Antelope (5-3, 16-7) and first place El Camino (8-0, 21-4), the two other powerhouse teams in the CAL.

“Next week is our season (pretty much), we’ve got to play the two toughest teams in our league,” said Rio Americano head coach Jeff Hart.

Hart said that this season’s team is young but one of the most athletic teams he’s coached and their athleticism played a big factor in the team’s success this season.

“Our speed gives other teams a lot of trouble, so that’s where we excel at, our speed is pretty strong,” he said.

With no returning players for Mira Loma, every single player on the roster is playing at the varsity level for the first time and the young team is still gaining experience.

“This was a season for eye-opening, so they’re getting their feet wet and hopefully they’ll know what it takes to be a good team next year,” said Mira Loma head coach Patrick Marquez.

Marquez said that he wants his team to play hard during the final two games of the season and still have fun playing basketball.

“I just want them to play hard and not forget why they’re here and continue to be passionate about basketball,” he said. “I want them to finish the season off, have fun and look forward to a hard-working offseason.”

For Rio Americano, the victory helps secure a better drawing into the playoffs, which the players are satisfied with.

“This win means a lot because now we don’t have to travel all the way to the No. 1 seed in (the first round of) the playoffs and that helps a lot,” said junior guard and co-caption Elizabeth Moulton, who scored 11 points.

Moulton also said that the team hopes to win the first two games of the playoffs, which would earn them a spot in the state championship playoffs.

The final game of the season for Rio Americano is against El Camino and the Raiders are hoping to avenge their only league loss against them. Along with Moulten, sophomore forward Emily Hansen and guard/forward Fie Brandt described their game plan against El Camino in just two words.

“Beat them!”, they all said, laughing.

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RIO AMERICANO 71, MIRA LOMA 23

Rio Americano 19 22 15 15 – 71

Mira Loma 4 5 5 9 – 23

RA–Moulton 11, Hodges 1, Brandt 5, Wilson 10, Hansen 8, Dixon 7, Paxton 5, Dickman 6, Riel 6, Martinez 12. ML–McClelland 2, Sayarch 11, Ayala 4, Patel 2, Kumeh 4.