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The Magdalena Steers hosted the Hot Springs Tigers out of Truth or Consequences for an evening of basketball on Tuesday, Nov. 25. JV and varsity teams for both the boys and the girls played that day. The C team for the boys was scheduled to play as well, but that game was cancelled as the Tigers didn’t have enough players for their C team that day. Instead, Steers C team and junior high players formed two teams to play against each other in a fun practice game.
Boys
JV boys started out at 4 p.m. in the auxiliary gym while the JV girls started at the same time in the main gym. The Steers JV boys team took control early on and held on to it for most of the game. They were up 27-17 at halftime, and then they started subbing more and more to get all the players time on the court. The Steers held on to their lead margin in the second half for a 49-38 win.
The varsity boys played the last game of the evening. The Steers have five seniors on the team now, but they had seven on last year’s district champ team who have moved on.
“We knew this would be a tough season with our experience. We lost six out of our top seven players. So, that’s tough to fill in those gaps.” Head Coach Jory Mirabal said.
They are going to work on filling in that experience by getting out there and playing.
The Steers played it pretty close in the first half. Back and forth play saw each team control the game for a while, Steers in the first quarter and Tigers in the second quarter. The Steers were only down 16-14 at halftime.
Magdalena came out from halftime a little bit flat and only scored five points in the third quarter. Tigers continued to dominate the play into the fourth quarter until great defense and a couple of steals by #20 JW Hunter allowed the Steers to catch back up a bit.
The Steers cut the Tigers’ lead down to a few points before their momentum ran out. Fouls in the final minutes as the Steers were racing against the clock sent the Tigers to the free throw line too many times. The Steers lost 41-31 in the end.
“There’s some work in front of us.” Mirabal said.
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The Magdalena players all hustled and played hard to the very end. #24 Ky Stephens, a senior and team captain, led the Steers in scoring with nine points–three two-pointers and three free throws. Seven others Steers’ players contributed with points that day.
“We are encouraged with the efforts and attitudes of our players. The kids are excited about getting better.” Jory Mirabal.
Girls
The Magdalena girls teams had a great day all around. JV started them out and were up 31-9 at halftime. They coasted a little bit in the second half and let everyone get some playing time, but still finished up with a solid 50-23 win.
The girls varsity team played next, and they also jumped out to a strong lead early on. They were up 35-11 at halftime. Their big lead allowed them to rotate in all of the players as well.
“I thought it was really good. We have some stuff we need to clean up–rebounding, turnovers–but I think, all in all, for the first game, I thought it was pretty productive.” Head coach Sara Sue Olney said.
Olney was happy with the productivity even when none of the starters were out on the court. Hot Springs would make some runs at times, but throughout the game the Steers controlled the tempo regardless of their line-up.
“It’s really exciting to have everybody get in a first game, and I think that we have anybody on any given day that can contribute, and that’s kind of fun for us. We haven’t had that in a while.” Olney said.
Varsity went on to win their game easily at 53-22. #2 Jema Ganadanegro, a senior and team captain, led the way for the Magdalena girls with 16 points in the first half. She scored four 3-pointers for 12 of those points and then rested more in the second half as her teammates got more playing time.
Dec. 2 update
Magdalena hosted Socorro varsity teams.
Girls: Magdalena won 58-12.
Boys: Socorro won 43-41
