PECOS -- The checklist for the Mora girls basketball team just got easier.

If not for District 2AA foe Peñasco, "finishing" would still be near the bottom of it.

"The only thing that counts in this game is, 'Did you finish?' " said Mark Cassidy, Mora head coach. "Every game, I put the down the word 'finish.' We've been trying to figure out where to put it on our list of priorities."

On Monday, it literally shot to the top. Mora saw what happens when it couldn't make shots in the first half.

A second-half turnaround was keyed by improved shooting as the Rangerettes secured the regular season 2AA title with a 43-30 win over Peñasco in a playoff game in Pecos' Louis G. Sanchez Memorial Gymnasium.

With the win comes a spot in the Class AA State Tournament and a home game for the 2AA championship.

It couldn't have happened without Mora making shots, which finally happened with an 8-for-14 finish from the field over the last
10 minutes, 36 seconds.

The result was a 20-6 run to erase a 24-23 Peñasco lead in the third quarter.

Rangerettes point guard Angel Valencia was the main benefactor of the hot streak, scoring seven of her 10 points during the run. Her 18-footer at :32 left of the third gave Mora a 31-24 lead that was never threatened.

Valencia also was on the point in Mora's 2-2-1 trap, as Peñasco turned the ball over seven times during the run.

Until then, it was a repeat of the previous two district games, in which the Lady Panthers controlled the tempo and the paint with their dynamic post duo of Abigail Soto and Marcella Sanchez.

Soto is a 6-foot brick wall that coldly blocks most inside shots. Sanchez is a 5-10 forward who can score inside and outside while also being quick enough to hound smaller players.

And the Rangerettes have the market cornered on small.

"They always block our shots," said Valencia, the Rangerettes' 5-3 guard.

"And they do real good on their rebounds," chimed in fellow guard Chantel Rivera, who is 5-4.

Mora's answer to Peasco's size is 5-7 forward Destiny Pacheco. All the Rangerettes have is speed, but lots of it.

Yet, that quality can be handcuffed because, in Mora's case, it can't press if it can't score. And when it can't press, it struggles to score.

Peñasco learned that after a 52-47 loss to Mora in the Northern Rio Grande Championship semifinal. The Lady Panthers were methodical in a 53-48 win in district play on Feb. 3.

They were even more methodical on Saturday, but a desperate Mora team eked out a 32-28 win -- thanks to a finishing 8-0 run -- in the regular season finale to force the playoff.

It was more of the same in the first half as Soto and Sanchez each had nine points to stake Peñasco to an 18-11 lead with 31 seconds before the break. When Mora missed for the 17th time in 21 tries from the field with 10 seconds left, the Lady Panthers were in position to make Mora panic.

Then, lightning struck.

Rivera stripped Peñasco guard Shannon Medina at midcourt, and drove to the basket to make it 18-13 at the break. It took Mora just 2 minutes to emerge from the locker room at halftime with its message in hand.

"We have to put the ball in the basket, so we came out to shoot," Cassidy said.

The Rangerettes also attacked the paint.

While they still struggled to hit their shots early in the second half, they made inroads at the free-throw line.

Mora hit 6 of 7 from the stripe to take a 23-20 lead.

Peñasco pushed back with Melanie Gonzales scoring on a bucket and two free throws -- the first two points not by Soto or Sanchez -- but the Rangerettes found their range.

And that meant the Lady Panthers were finished.