If the Penasco Panthers were feeling good off their 58-15 takedown of the Mora Rangers/Rangerettes on Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Penasco opened the new year with a less-than-successful 76-70 loss to they on Friday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did on Thursday (58), they still had to take the loss.
Rochelle Lopez and Analise MacAuley certainly did their best on Friday to try and avoid the loss. Lopez scored 25 points along with five rebounds and three steals, while MacAuley dropped a double-double on 24 points and 14 rebounds. The game was MacAuley's 12th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alyssa Atencio, who scored 11 points.
Even though they lost, Penasco were working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mesa Vista only racked up 23 assists.
Leading Mesa Vista to victory were Isabella Boies and Tana Lopez . Boies dropped a double-double on 20 points and ten assists, while Lopez scored 30 points. That makes it four consecutive games in which Lopez has scored at least 25% of Mesa Vista's points. Another player making a difference was Brittni Suazo , who scored six points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Penasco's defeat dropped their record down to 7-5. As for Mesa Vista, the victory was the eighth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 9-2.
Penasco won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Pecos at 2:30 p.m. on January 6th. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in New Mexico (Pecos is ranked 71st, while Penasco is ranked 54th). Mesa Vista won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Dulce at 5:30 p.m. on January 6th. Dulce is looking to tack on another W to their four-game streak on the road.
