Is it easier to win state tournament games when it’s been the program’s expectation?
Depends on who you ask.
When the question was raised, Peñasco senior Analise MacAuley (an eighth-grader on a 2020 team that reached the state final) quickly started nodding. Junior Alexuis Romero shook her head next to her. Team coach Mandy Montoya listened while picking off a piece of tape from the press conference table.
“You kind of know what to expect, you have the same feelings,” MacAuley said. “But with different hopes.”
Whatever the case, the No. 6 seed Lady Panthers (19-11) made it look easy in a 50-32 upset victory over No. 3 Pecos (22-7) in the state quarterfinals in Rio Rancho on Tuesday. Peñasco snapped Pecos’ 16-game win streak as the program reaches the semifinals for the fourth time in the last six years, where they will face No. 2 Tatum.
Peñasco’s defense held Pecos in check all game in the battle of Panthers. Pecos was limited to just 11-for-60 shooting (18 percent), including 27 3-point attempts, making just three. Peñasco took 25 fewer shots but was far more efficient, and dominated the rebounding battle 49-26.
Pecos Coach Lawrence Ragland said their high number of 3-point attempts was not straying from any gameplan.
“Those are shots we usually hit,” he said.
Romero delivered a double-double and scored a season-high 10 points. When that was announced at the press conference, her fellow players started clapping.
“We have a lot of seniors this year,” the junior said. “I just want to show them that we can do this, because we’ve played together all our lives.”
Stars Rochelle Lopez and MacAuley both contributed 16 points. Lopez scored eight of those in the first quarter, helping Peñasco take an early lead.
Peñasco scored first, and they only ever trailed early in the first quarter. They led by as many as nine points in the first quarter. Pecos kept pace in the second quarter, finishing on a 9-2 run after Peñasco went up by 12.
Key to the game was slowing down Pecos star Natalia Stout, and the shooters around her. Stout scored 15 points in the first half, but just two in the second half, and needed 25 shot attempts to get to her 17-point total. At one point late in the game, Lopez swatted a Stout 3-point attempt.
“Stout’s going to get hers, she’s probably one of the best players in the state,” Montoya said. “We just made sure it was hard earned.”
The rest of the team, normally strong complements, scored just 15 total points and shot 17 percent.
In the second half, Peñasco just built their lead more and more. They quickly extended their lead to nine, and outside of one Pecos run, stayed in control. By the end of the third they led by 14. Their biggest lead of the game was the very end, an 18-point advantage.
Peñasco next plays against Tatum, who on paper matches very similarly. A balanced team that runs through its defense and strong rebounding skills.
“They’re scrappy, a lot like the teams that we typically play,” Montoya said.
That game will be at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Lopez, the fearless sophomore, said she likes playing in the morning.