Dulce derails Peñasco’s playoff plans
The Dulce Hawks defeated the visiting Peñasco Panthers 55-51 on Friday (March 3), ending the late season surge of the Lady Panthers heading into the first round of the
Nusenda Credit Union Basketball Championships Class 2A.
The lower seeded Lady Panthers gave up seven unanswered points to Dulce to start the game. After a timeout with three minutes to go in the first quarter, Peñasco settled down and found some offense through Analise MacAuley and Haylie Martinez to get a couple of scores going for them. Dulce led 15-7 after the first quarter.
Back-to-back buckets by Charnelle Gonzalez halfway through the second quarter gave Peñasco a short-lived 16-15 lead, which Dulce took back after a Bailey Vigil field goal.
The Lady Panthers upped their defensive effort in the second quarter to claw back into the game and trailed by a single point, 22-21, at halftime on the road.
A trio of Vigils — Aaryonna, Bailey and Alaina — provided a hefty scoring punch for the
Lady Hawks. They combined for 29 points out of Dulce’s 55. The Lady Hawks outscored Peñasco 17-9 in the third quarter and led 39-30 heading into the fourth.
A strong 21-point performance in the final quarter by Peñasco was not enough to get past the Lady Hawks.
Down by 7 with a minute left, the Lady Panthers charged back with a pair of 3-pointers by Charnelle Gonzales to get within two points, 53-51, with several seconds left. Peñasco’s last shot missed the mark, however, and Alaina Vigil closed the game out for Dulce with a pair of free throws in the 55-51 Hawks victory.
Peñasco’s enforcer, Alexuis
Romero, fouled out in the final minute of the match, having not scored — but not without grabbing 10 rebounds.
Gonzales and Lopez led the Lady Panthers with 14 points apiece. Alyssa Atencio chipped in 10. MacAuley swatted a couple of Lady Hawks while also getting 8 points and 9 rebounds.
MacAuley ends her junior season campaign as the Lady Panthers leader in points per game, at 12.6 a game. She also ends the season as the leading blocker, with 1.6 blocks a game. Freshman Lopez ends her season leading Peñasco in total assists, with 65, and in steals per game, with 3 steals a game.