Lady Panthers unstoppable in Cowbell Tourney

The Peñasco Lady Panthers won the 2016-17 Cowbell Tournament over the weekend (Dec. 7-10).

The Lady Panthers beat Questa in the opening round 50-32. The two Taos County and District 5-2A teams squared off for the first time this season in Springer High School with Peñasco advancing to the semifinals of the championship bracket played in Raton. Peñasco and Questa will face each other at least two more times this year in district play, and perhaps at the Northern Rio Grande (NRG) tournament to start the 2017 calendar year.

In the semifinal round, the Lady Panthers easily handled 3A Raton 48-32. It was the second tilt between the two team, with Peñasco beating the Lady Tigers in Peñasco earlier in the season by a similar point difference, 56-42. The two teams will meet again Jan. 14 to complete the home-and-home regular season arrangement.

The final game was a rubber-match of sorts between Peñasco and the Cimarron Lady Rams. The Lady Panthers cruised to a 60-30 victory – claiming the longstanding tournament title, but not the prize itself.

According to Lady Panther coach, Gilbert Mascareñas, the traveling trophy went missing during the second-half of the championship game. Attempts to contact tournament officials have yet to yield an answer as to why this occurred.

The Lady Panthers currently have a 6-0 overall record and will travel to Santa Fe to take on Tierra Encantada Charter Dec. 14.