JMHS GIRLS IN TOURNAMENT
by David Tesitor
Trinidad- On Dec. 13-15th the Lady Panthers Varsity traveled to Trinidad to participate in the Miners Tournament. This young team, led by first year coach, Ray Bustos, improved their levels of competitiveness during this three day competition. On Thursday, the Panthers drew the Miner team, a quicker, larger and more experienced team. The Lady Cats were tough, losing the opening round though, 52-25. The game was closer than the score indicated, but several missed opportunities kept the Panthers out of the game. Cami Reynolds and Kristen David led the Panther scoring with seven apiece.
The following evening, the Panthers faced 3A Pueblo South. South played a tough man-to-man coverage, pressing the Cats up and down the court. With their good shooting and a tough defense, South had no trouble with the Panthers, beating them 58-33. David again led the Cats with 11 points.
Saturday saw the Cats play perennial powerhouse, La Junta. In a much closer game, the Lady Panthers were strong offensively, matching La Junta point for point. The hot shooting of David kept the Cats in the game. She had a game high 29 points, but in the end, the Lady Cats lost 66-59.
The Ladies had a chance to tie the game with 50 seconds in the fourth quarter, but a bad possession and a couple of missed free throws allowed their opponents to pull away. According to Coach Bustos, “We lack consistency. We need to improve in this area.” Bustos emphised this is a young team which has had three coaches in he past 4 years and is proud of the accomplishments they have made so far this year. Bustos has high expectations for his team during the rest of the season The Lady Panthers played Las Animas this past Tuesday. Full story details will appear in next week’s Journal as the details were unavailable by press time.
