Ladies Fight Through Adversity in Loss to Greenwood, Ready for Competition at Big Lake Tournament December 28-30
    By Randy Hogan, Staff Writer - The Monahans News, December 23, 2005

The Lady Lobo basketball team suffered their first district loss at Greenwood on Tuesday, as the Rangerettes picked up points from 11 players to defeat Monahans 56-34.

Greenwood opened the second half with a 31-16 lead.  Monahans did outscore the Rangerettes 9-7 in the third period, but down the stretch, the Ladies could not overtake the hot-shooting Greenwood team.

"We started out in a zone defense to take advantage of things Greenwood had done in previous games," Coach Treasure Thaggard said.  "But they stepped it up and made some really big three-point shots that forced us to make changes."

Greenwood (1-2 District 3-3A) shot extremely well to claim their first district victory.  Whitney Etheredge was lethal, hitting 3, three-point shots in her 11-point total to lead the Rangerettes in double figures.  Megan Morrett sank 2, three-pointers and scored 8 points overall on the night.  

"Everything clicked," Greenwood Coach John Paul said.  "We really did a good job containing them.  I believe we may have found our starting rotation in this game."

Monahans (2-1 District 3-3A) was led by Kym Madrid with 14 points. 

The Lady Loboes only shot 27 percent from the field in the game.

Dina Ortiz added 8 points, including 2, three-point shots from long range.

Chelsea Cartwright hit one, three-point shot from outside the perimeter and finished the night with seven points.

"They forced us to shoot from the outside because of their defensive pressure," Thaggard said.  "Greenwood took Jordan Latham out of her inside game and gave Catherine a lot of problems when shooting."

The Rangerettes chose to concentrate their defensive pressure on Catherine Cutbirth.  She added five points to account for the remainder of the Lady Lobo scoring. 

Monahans did an excellent job shooting when fouled, making five of six from the free-throw line.

The teams will take time off from district play through the Christmas break, but will both participate in the Mary Tatum Classic basketball tournament at Big Lake December 28-30.

Monahans is scheduled to open the tournament with Reagan County at 6 pm on Wednesday, and Greenwood will face McCamey in the opening round.

"We are playing together well," Coach Thaggard said.  "The girls are running plays effectively and buying into our program.

They listen to what we want them to do and are working hard."

The Lady Loboes are showing signs of improvement, and Coach Thaggard is excited about the possibilities.

"They are hungry right now," Thaggard said.  "We are having fun and excited about our chances in district play." 

Keyed By Logan Summers, Junior