GRANTS, N.M. - Both Pirate basketball teams are in the final stretch of the district season and have faced some tough opponents in district play.
The lady Pirates are 12-11 and 1-4 after splitting their last two games. They then played the Belen Eagles on the road on February 2 and defeated them 66-48. “We had a great game despite the flu going through the team,” said GHS Lady Pirate head coach Jesi Mandagaran. “We pressed, moved the ball around and we had a solid team effort.
High scorers for the Lady Pirates in that game were senior Promise Garcia and Kiazna Guzman with 19 points apiece.
The following game with Valencia High School, currently ranked 6th in 4A, was a nail biter as both teams battled back and forth all 4 quarters.
At one point the Pirates led by as much as ten points, however, Valencia rallied back to trim the Pirates lead to single digits. With 1 second left trailing 39-40 Valencia’s Daylan Estrada, 0, inbounded the ball to senior point guard Francesca Otero, 15, who worked her way under the goal for a bucket to defeat the Lady Grants 41-40 at the buzzer. In that game Demi Martinez was leading scorer with 13 points followed by Kiana Guzman with 10 points.
“We had a competitive game, the effort was there,” said Mandagaran. “We are still trying to find that moment in offense where we can really figure out consistently what’s a good shot—-that’s been our demise in close games.”
Next up for the Pirates is St. Pius on February 10th at home. “Our girls are flowing nicely now—we are looking at being consistent on both sides of the ball,” said Mandagaran of the upcoming game.
The Lady Pirates are 4th in district 5, 4A with a current record of 12-11, 1-4 behind Highland (14-8, 4-0), Valencia (17-6, 4-1) and St. Pius (11-11, 3-2). The Lady Pirates are also ranked 14th in 4A girls basketball this week.
The GHS boy’s basketball team is currently 11-12, 1-4 after two back-to-back games. In district play a defeat by the Valencia Jaguars, on February 6 by a score of 63-50.
The Pirates were outscored in 3 of the 4 quarters in that game. The second game in that week was also defeated for the Pirates by non-district 3A Sandia Prep (11-9, 2-2) on February 7th by a score of 64-55. The Pirates are currently sitting at 4th in the district behind Highland (18-4, 4-0), Belen (14-9, 4-1) and Valencia (14-9, 2-3).
Next up for the Pirates is St. Pius (8-13, 1-4) on February 10. The Pirates are also ranked 15th in 4A this week.