Basketball–A busy week for the Magdalena teams

Magdalena hosted the Oak Grove Owls on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Both Magdalena varsity teams came away with wins at home that day. 

The girls played first and had a relatively easy game that allowed them to mix it up and give a lot more of their players scoring opportunities. All but three of the players put points on the board in the victory, and #14 Falene Montoya was the leading scorer of the game with 13 points. The girls improved to a 7-0 record after the 58-7 win.

The Magdalena boys played next against a much more competitive team. The Steers battled it out in a game that saw multiple lead changes. Late in the game, the Owls had the lead briefly with under three minutes to play, but the Steers pushed ahead and held on at the end for a 47-43 win. #4 Nathan Bruton led the team with 11 points. The Steers were 3-4 for the season after that win.

“It was a hard fought game. Boys are willing to work hard. They're improving, so it's good. I'm just happy for them.” Magdalena varsity boys Head Coach Jory Mirabal said.

Texico Tournament

The Magdalena basketball teams traveled later in the week for the three day Texico Tournament, from Dec. 18-20. Each Magdalena varsity team drew the Des Moines Demons teams as their first opponents on Dec. 18, and the Steers won close games by four points in each of those: the boys won 32-28 and the girls won 45-41. 

Boys

The Magdalena Steers improved to an even 4-4 record with that win over Des Moines and earned a game against another Steer team, from Farwell, Texas. Magdalena lost 76-28 to the now 9-3 Farwell team and then lost 65-50 to the now 8-2 Melrose Buffaloes team to wrap up their time in the Texico Tournament. The 50 points matched their highest scoring output so far this season, once earlier in a 50-25 win over To’hajiilee, so the Magdalena boys got some offense going in that last game.

“Ky Stephens had a really good tournament and is showing signs of the kind of player he can be in the post. Our bench gave us really good minutes all weekend.” Mirabal said.

This stiff competition early on in the season may not reflect so well in their record, but it will certainly do a lot to prepare Magdalena for district play later on in the season. 

“We don’t like losing but we see growth, and we are playing the types of teams that make us better and know what we have to do to be where we want to be in March.” Mirabal said.

The Magdalena Steers go into the winter break with a 4-6 record for the season, with time to rest before their next game at home against Fort Sumner/House on Jan. 1, at 2 p.m.

Girls

The Magdalena girls continued their winning streak with the Des Moines victory for an 8-0 record to start the season. Their second game of the tournament was against Texico, who they had beaten at home in Magdalena in the Steer Stampede tournament earlier this month. However, the Texico Wolverines took advantage of their own home court and won the rematch 46-24 on Friday, Dec. 19. 

Magdalena bounced back from their loss and beat the Melrose Buffaloes by a solid 44-36 score on Saturday, Dec. 20. They wrapped up the tournament at 2-1 and took third place. The girls take a 9-1 record into the winter break, with time to rest before their next game at home against Fort Sumner/House on Jan. 1, at 1 p.m.