By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The Roy/Mosquero Lady Blue hosted the Animas Lady Panthers in the first round of state tourney play in Roy on Friday night March 8, 2024, and what a game it was with many lead changes and ties throughout before Lady Blue prevailed 41 – 38.
The ladies took to the floor and soon after the whistles started to blow. Both teams soon found their way to the free throw line where the Lady Blue added five and the Lady Panthers added seven points to the board. By half-time the Lady Panthers had added 13 points from the charity line while Roy/Mosquero was held to only five and only one trip to the line in the second quarter.
By half-time Lady Blue coach Blair Clavel had to rethink some of his strategy with three players in foul trouble while the Lady Panthers had all their starters with fouls but none with more than two fouls for the first half of play. As the buzzer sounded at halftime it was a brand-new game with a tie score at 27.
As the ladies came out of the locker room Roy would find a tougher Lady Panther team, one that would hold the Lady blue to only three points in the third with all three coming from the free throw line. Animas managed to take a four-point lead in the game as their defense held the Lady Blue to three with no field goals.
As the fourth quarter got under way the Lady Blue defense came alive and held Animas to only four points and all of those from the free throw line. The Lady Blue would once again find the basket and score nine from the field and only make two of 10 free throws. As the seconds ticked off the clock the Lady Blue took the lead back. It came down to time management and keeping hold of the ball as the Lady Panthers defense stiffened up. With under a minute the Lady Blue were up by three. All they had to do was hang on to the ball and wait for the buzzer. The Lady Blue pulled it off 41-38 and will advance on to the next round of state tourney play in Bernalillo Wednesday March 13 at 8:00 a.m. against Corona/Vaughn.
Animas 15 12 7 4 – 38
Roy/Mq 16 11 3 11 -41
Animas High Point
Laikyn Davenport 14, 6 of 8 free throws
Journey Sheehan 9, 5 of 6 free throws
Free Throws 17 of 24 attempts
Roy/Mosquero High Point
Arantza Covarrubius 9, 1 of 5 free throws
Nora Crisp 8, 4 of 6 free throws
Free Throws 10 of 18 attempts
