The venue might have been the Driscoll Fitness Center on the College of Santa Fe campus, but for Mora's Andrea Romero, Monique Duran and Jessica Garcia, it felt like home.

The trio of girls basketball players spent the last two weeks sitting at the end of the bench for the Rangerettes as the result of a suspension for violating team rules. And it was pure torture each and every second.

For more photos from the game visit: http://tinyurl.com/y9mixfd

"It was aggravating," said Duran, the junior post. "Sometimes, we'd sit there and cry, it hurt so much."

The tears stopped Tuesday evening. The trio were back in the Kelly Green and white they love to wear, and they made an immediate impact. They combined to score 41 points to lead Mora to a commanding 75-8 win over the struggling and frustrated Lady Dragons of Monte del Sol in the District 4AA opener for both teams.

Mora (13-8 overall) made quick work of Monte del Sol, which turned the ball over the first 11 times it had the ball.

In fact, by the Lady Dragons took their first shot — a driving layup by eight grader Alicia Roybal — the Rangerettes already held a 20-2 lead. Duran and Romero were responsible for 13 of Mora's first 20 points.

Even the second-team that Rangerettes head coach David Salcido dominated the action. After Monte del Sol (4-13 overall, 0-1) made it 22-4 on another Roybal basket, Mora scored the next 36 points, until an Aisha Herrera layup with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

While Salcido was happy have his three top scorers back, his team's performance was muted.

"I think it was OK, but the bad thing about it is the team we're playing is pretty weak," Salcido said. "You can't tell exactly how they're doing. But overall, they did pretty good."

Romero was happy to get back on the court after missing the last two weeks after an incident at the Albuquerque Hope Christian Invitational led to the suspensions. Salcido and the players declined to elaborate on the matter.

Romero felt the break tested her mentally, because she could do nothing more than practice and shoot around while her teammates played.

"You have to be mentally strong and you can't let what everybody says get to you," Romero said. "It's hard to watch the team without you."

The blessing in Romero's eyes was that it allowed some of the bench players an opportunity to show what they can do. It continued against the Lady Dragons as sophomores Desiree Pino (nine points) and Brianna Abeyta (six) led the second-team charge.

"I feel like it was a blessing in disguise because our coach knows we have more depth now than he thought," Romero said.

Monte del Sol head coach Nicolas Trouvat, meanwhile, was at a loss for his team's performance. While the Lady Dragons have gone through a metamorphosis during the season because of player defections and injuries, Trouvat expected his team to play with more heart than it did against the Rangerettes.

"What I just told them (after the game) we do not have the players (of Mora's caliber)," Trouvat said. "We have just eighth and ninth graders mostly, which is not enough for basketball. We do not have girls playing with their guts, and this is what we get."

At least a trio of Rangerettes passed their gut check.

Contact James Barron at 986-3045or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at thereadbarron.com.