Ladycats fight hard against Mesa Vista, fall short at home

Game against Peñasco could have post-season implications for coach Rael and his squad

Questa Ladycats

The Questa Ladycats played host to the Mesa Vista (Ojo Caliente) Lady Trojans inside the MiniPit Feb. 1. The much-anticipated game saw the two undefeated district 5-2A teams meet each other for the first time this season.

Ultimately, the Lady Trojans would come out on top, controlling the game from start to finish and garnering the win by a final score of 67-52. Led by Mesa Vista junior Bella Boies and seniors Shanae Silva and Tana Lopez, the Lady Trojans kept up a steady stream of points in each of the four quarters and grew their lead throughout regulation.

The home game was the lone contest for the Ladycats during the week of Jan. 30–Feb. 2.

With the loss, Questa slipped slightly and now owns a 13-6 (0.684-win percentage) overall record and 3-1 league record.

The Ladycats played a non-district game against the Des Moines Lady Demons Jan. 6, however, final score and game details were not available by the time this section went to press. The Lady Demons are a class-A team belonging to district 5, which includes Cimarron, Maxwell, Wagon Mound, Springer, and the combined schools of Roy and Mosquero. Des Moines is a very small village located between Capulin and Clayton in the northeast highlands of New Mexico. The formidable Lady Demons entered the game against Questa ranked second in their respective league with an 11-8 overall record, and 2-1 in districts.

Next is another big game for coach Steve Rael and company as they travel to Peñasco to take on the Lady Panthers tonight (Feb. 8). Currently, the Ladycats and the Lady Panthers are tied for second in their league after each team lost to Mesa Vista this past week.

So far, Questa has breezed through each of their other district opponents — notching victories over the McCurdy Lady Bobcats by 31 points, the Escalante Lady Lobos by 19 and the Mora Rangerettes by 20.

The Ladycats return to the Mini-Pit next week for a home game against the Mora Rangerettes Feb. 15 before taking on the Mesa Vista Lady Trojans once more Feb. 17. The end-of-year district tournament is scheduled to begin Feb. 26.

BEN SANDOVAL/For the Taos News After coming up with the offensive rebound, Questa Ladycat Amalia Gonzales attempts a put-back during the first half of Questa’s home game against the Mesa Vista Lady Trojans Feb. 1. The Ladycats put up a valiant fight, however, the Lady Trojans showed the fans in attendance why they are ranked first in class 2A.