Same. I was actually surprised to find out in certain circles, there is SOOOOOO much attention paid to things like how many APs you took, your exact GPA, your exact class ranking, and so on, but then when it came to recommendations, they were sort of treated as an afterthought. Like, I am about to apply, who should I ask, was the extent of it for a lot of people. Whereas I would have suggested if they were going to spend years building their case for college, high on their list would be making sure to build the sort of teacher relationships, and reputation as a participant in classes, that will maximize teacher recommendations.
Not least because the faculty are very important stakeholders in most selective colleges, and in fact Yale explained there is usually a faculty representative on their admissions committees. So I think it is safe to assume those faculty representatives, or other officers acting on their behalf, very much want assurances about whether the college is admitting the sorts of students they enjoy having.
Again, to circle back to the OP’s question, a high standardized test score may well help you get to the point where a committee is assessing questions like that. But it makes perfect sense that once the faculty, or their agents in the process, know you have passed that sort of baseline scrutiny, they will then focus on things like recommendations, which inform them about all the other sorts of things these tests cannot address.