NMMI Sports Press
It was Senior Night at the Old Post and the three seniors on the Lady Colt basketball team combined for over half of the New Mexico Military Institute’s point tally, earning a 41-33 win against the visiting Dexter Demons.
Freshman point guard Kaytlyn Lackey was once again the top scorer for the Colts with 15, but it was the inside play of the three senior forwards that really stood out.
Paulina Sanchez blocked just about everything the Demons tried to put up in the paint, just missing a triple double with eight points, along with 10-plus in both rebounds and blocks.
Anastasia Ament also had eight points, all from close range, as NMMI’s finisher on the fast break.
Yasmeen Marrufo, despite early foul trouble, dropped in five points, and was second only to Sanchez in cleaning the glass after missed shots, offensive or defensive.
The win gives first-year head coach Lawrence Hall, Jr. and his Lady Colt squad their second district ‘W’ and ends the regular season.
“I was very pleased with our performance tonight,” said coach Hall. “Unlike our first game in district, we came out tonight and established ourselves with good ball movement and playing good defense. We have a new press, and for the first time running it in a game, I thought we did well.”
“All of our seniors just played hard tonight,” continued coach Hall. “Paulina’s the big dog, our senior anchor. She did everything tonight, had the double-double with cheese. Yasmeen did well and handled the ball when she needed to. She’s able to play several different positions, which makes my job a whole lot easier. And Anastasia – and all of our bigs – just passed the ball down low well tonight, and in the second half, we started to finish.”
Next up will be the District 4-3A Postseason Tournament, a four-team ladder bracket affair, where the lowest seed travels to play the next higher-seeded opponent, with the winner continuing to play the next higher seed until the tournament championship.
NMMI’s two wins puts them in third place in district and they’ll host a rematch against the Demons on Monday, Feb. 26 at 6:00 pm in the Godfrey Athletic Center, in the first round of that tourney.
The winner of Monday’s match will advance to take on second-seeded Ruidoso on Wednesday, Feb. 28.