Lady Panthers thrash Lady Bobcats

By John Earp

Tuesday night in the Panther Gym, the Lady Panthers Varsity Basketball Team (11-15) took on the Hagerman Lady Bobcats (9-16) in the first round of the district tournament. Johnna Butts was first to put points on the board, sinking a three-pointer. Other than that basket, the game was pointless in the first four minutes of play. With 3:32 remaining in the first period, Jal had pulled ahead 7-0. Brylee Rodriguez for Hagerman then sank two free throws, giving the Lady Bobcats their first points of the game with 3:15 left in the first. At the end of the first period, the Lady Panthers led the Lady Bobcats 13-3.

The Lady Bobcats started to really turn a corner in the first half of the second quarter, scoring 9 points to Jal’s 4 in the same time period. By the end of the second quarter, Jal was leading 24-16. Johnna Butts sank three consecutive three/pointers early in third period, extending Jal’s lead to 38-23 with 4:28 remaining. Itzell Ramirez then sank a three-pointer. With just over four minutes left in the third period, the Lady Panthers led the Lady Bobcats 41-23, their biggest lead of the game.

The Lady Bobcats were plagued with traveling calls in the final period of the game, resulting in numerous points being scored by the Lady Panthers. With 4:45 remaining in the game, Jal led 57-27, in what had become a complete rout. Final score was 61-33 with a big win for the Lady Panthers. They will play Tatum Thursday in the second round of district playoffs.

Mayrin Nieto led the Lady Panthers in scoring, with 20 points for the game. Johnna Butts scored 16, with 5 three-pointers. Natalia Rivera scored 13 points for Jal. Itzell Ramirez scored 8.