Lady Panthers come from behind in big win vs Hagerman

By John Earp

The Lady Panthers (9-12 overall; 2-3 in district) faced off against the Hagerman Lady Bobcats (8-10 overall; 0-5 in district) Monday night in the Panther Gym. The game was very slow paced in the first period. With one minute remaining in the quarter, the Lady Panthers led 5-4. Both teams had about an equally difficult time getting the ball down the court and making baskets. Less than one minute into the second period, the Lady Bobcats pulled ahead by one point with a nice layup by Ariana Magallanes.

The game continued with a back-and-forth slow pace for the first several minutes of the second period, but with about two minutes remaining before halftime, the Lady Bobcats began gaining a bit of an advantage, putting several unanswered points on the board. With one minute remaining, they led the Lady Panthers 12-7. At halftime, the Lady Bobcats were ahead 12-9. The Lady Panthers started to catch fire about three minutes into the third quarter, putting eight unanswered points up on the board. By the end of the third period, they had advanced their lead over Hagerman to ten points. With 5 minutes remaining in the game, the Lady Panthers led 31-15. The Lady Panthers continued to dominate the Lady Bobcats in the final period. It was as if they had become a different team entirely compared to the first half. Final score was 46-19.

The Lady Panthers put more points on the board in the third quarter (13) than they had in the entire first half of the game. They continued to gain momentum in the final period, putting 20 more points on the board in that quarter. Mayrin Nieto led the Lady Panthers in total points, with 16, followed by Natalia Rivera with 13, Kaedyn Lujan with 5, and Karisma Rodriguez with 4.

The Lady Panthers play another home game against Tatum (14-4 overall; 4-0 in district) this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Tatum presently is in first place in New Mexico 2A Girls’ Basketball, while the Lady Panthers are ranked #14 in New Mexico 2A.