LUBBOCK, TX – After a not so pretty outing to begin the Caprock Classic tournament on Thursday, Permian’s girls baketball rebounded nicely with a 61-34 victory over Borger to start Day Two in Lubbock.
The Lady Panthers were able to brush off yesterday’s tournament opening loss to Lubbock Monterey. Mojo began the morning with a renewed focus. Permian led 10-7 at the end of the first frame, and Borger fell further behind as the game progressed. Daysia Christian continued her strong presence in the paint, while the defense offered more balance. Jae Savage, Natalie Baeza, Jennifer Arnold, and Christian had shots finding the cylinder in the first quarter.
Mojo did a better job of spreading the ball around as nine shooters contributed in a 20-point second stanza. The Lady Panthers took advantage of going to the line to shoot free throws, making all six attempts. Karen Guzman, Aariell Washington, and Ahna Alvarado each made both of their free throws. Defensively, the Black Cats held the Bulldogs to another single digit quarter. Permian took a 30-15 lead into the halftime break.
Baeza and Guzman had the hot hands in the third quarter, with the pair combining for three three-pointers. Mojo added another 19 points to Borger’s 10 to hold a 24-point lead by quarter’s end. Freshman Micah Smith scored a pair of buckets in the fourth, and her JV teammate E’Jae Miller dropped in a basket as well. Permian finished the final quarter with another 12 points to claim the 61-34 decision.
Baeza led all scorers with 11 points, and Guzman followed with 10. The Lady Panthers will close out the tournament on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. against San Angelo Central. The finale will be played at the Lubbock High gymnasium, where Permian will need to clean up two areas – 1) bad passes that result in turnovers, and 2) unnecessary transition fouls. Mojo committed 26 fouls in the contest.
| BY QUARTER | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Permian | 10 | 20 | 19 | 12 | 61 |
| Borger | 07 | 08 | 10 | 09 | 34 |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Permian
Natalie Baeza 5 0-0 11, Karen Guzman 3 2-2 10, Daysia Christian 4 1-2 9, Jennifer Arnold 4 0-4 8, Jae Savage 3 1-2 7, Ahna Alvarado 0 4-5 4, Micah Smith 2 0-0 4
Borger
Ashlynn Bridges 4 2-5 10, Maggie Buttermore 4 1-3 9, Kyli Hernandez 2 3-10 5, Ta’Leigha Tabor 1 2-4 4
3-pts: Permian – 3 (Guzman 2, Baeza 1) | Borger – 0
Fouls: Permian – 26 | Borger – 19