Basketball Recap: Shia Romero's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Penasco over Santa Rosa

After flying high against Escalante last Saturday, Penasco came back down to earth. The Penasco Panthers took a 65-55 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Santa Rosa Lions on Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 81st, while the Lions are ranked 19th).

Penasco lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Shia Romero, who posted 17 points in addition to seven boards and three steals. Romero is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Nehemiah Chavez, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten boards.

Even though they lost, Penasco smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.

Penasco's defeat was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 8-6. As for Santa Rosa, the win was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 10-3.

Penasco didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 45-40 victory against Clayton on the 10th. As for Santa Rosa, a feisty cat fight will be fought when the Santa Rosa Lions face off against the Eunice Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. on January 16th.