Depleted Lady Panthers beat Clayton
Seven strong was just enough for the Pecos girls basketball team. With injuries, illnesses and a personal matter depleting the Lady Panthers, they had to rely mostly on their seven varsity players against Clayton on Saturday night in Louis G. Sanchez Memorial Gymnasium.
Thanks to Brittney Martinez’s eight points in the fourth quarter, Pecos survived the Lady Yellowjackets’ upset bid with a 41-34 win in a District 7-2A game. Pecos (19-4 overall, 4-1) sets itself up for a chance to force a district playoff if it can beat Texico at home in the regular-season finale Friday.
Clayton struggled against the Lady Panthers zone defense and found itself down 22-8 late in the first half. A Clayton player hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to get within 22-11. The Lady Yellowjackets (12-10, 1-4) used that momentum to go on a 14-5 run in the third quarter to get within 27-25 heading into the fourth.
“I’m not real sure what’s going on in the third quarter,” Pecos head coach Ron Drake said. “Texico, it was the same thing. Maybe I shouldn’t let them go into the locker room at halftime any more. Just let them shoot around and keep playing.”
All of that was forgotten in the final 8 minutes, as Martinez helped carry her team to the finish. She had consecutive three-point plays that pushed the lead to 35-27 early in the quarter, then she capped the scoring with a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Martinez finished with 14 points, while Cassie Muller had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Trinity Herrera and Faith Flores each added 11 rebounds for the Lady Panthers.
Pecos has another big game before Friday, as it heads to Peñasco on Tuesday for a nondistrict game against Peñasco with a top-two seed in the Class 2A State Tournament on the line.
LAS VEGAS ROBERTSON 52, ST. MICHAEL’S 30
The Lady Horsemen struggled to score again as they fell behind 25-11 at the half against the 2-3A-leading Lady Cardinals in Michael Marr Gymnasium.
The duo of Jazmyne and Jayden Jenkins did their part in the paint for Robertson (23-1, 6-0), as they combined for 12 points in the first half. Jazmyne Jenkins finished with 12 points, trailing only Alianza Darley’s 13.
St. Michael’s (11-12, 3-3) did not hit any of its eight 3-point shots and were just 11-for-46 from the field.
“The shooting woes did us in a little bit again,” Lady Horsemen head coach Martin Esquibel said. “That was the story of the game.”
Joelyn Fernandez had a team-high 10 points for St. Michael’s, while Cia Alvarez added nine.
BOYS BASKETBALL PECOS 100, CLAYTON 54
It was almost a year to the day the Panthers hit triple digits on the scoreboard, and they pulled off the feat in a 7-2A game in Louis G. Sanchez Memorial Gymnasium. They hit the century mark in a 100-17 win over Academy for Technology and the Classics on Feb. 17, 2018, then did it again when Isaiah Sandoval, one of three junior varsity players called up for the game. He hit a bucket in the waning seconds to hit 100 points.
Pecos (21-3, 5-0) led 25-12 after a half and 52-27 at halftime. Xavier Padilla had 12 points in the opening quarter, and scored 14 more in the second half to finish with 26 points for the Panthers. Ismael Villegas added 19, Omar Dominguez had 15 and Jacob Sandoval 12.
Dario Avila was the only double-digit scorer for the Yellowjackets (8-16, 0-5). He led all scorers with 28 points as he knocked down eight 3-pointers.