Though early, first place will be at stake Saturday when the Lady Panthers of Pecos High School come calling on the Rangerettes of Mora.

"It's going to show us what we're made of," said Benny Gallegos, Pecos head coach. "We're looking forward to it."

Mora opened District 4AA play Tuesday with a 75-8 victory over Monte del Sol. The Lady Panthers began their district season Thursday, defeating Santa Fe Preparatory 58-36 in Pecos.

"Overall, I'm pretty proud of my girls," Gallegos said. "We got a little lazy on defense in the second quarter, but they stepped up the pressure in the third quarter."

As much as Gallegos lauded the defense, the Lady Panthers' 15-0 start in the first quarter and their 10-point spurt to start the fourth could not be overlooked.

Anika Amon didn't.

"Their speed kind of surprised us," Amon, who is in her first year of her second stint as Prep head coach, said. "They were a lot quicker than we thought. We started in a man, which was probably a mistake because our help defense wasn't there."

After building an 18-6 advantage after one quarter, the difference remained at a dozen points, 31-19, at intermission. The Lady Panthers padded the cushion to 45-28 entering the fourth quarter.

Yeshemabet Turner scored 16 points, Geneva Rivera added 11 and Amber Rougemont chipped in 10 for Pecos (7-8).

For the Blue Griffins (9-8), Sarah Ihlefeld scored 13 points and Olivia Cicci finished with 11.

"We'll need more production from our posts," Amon said, looking ahead to the rematch. "You need at least three in double figures, if not four, if you want to beat them."

Capital 65, Bernalillo 41

The Lady Jaguars needed to get their groove back, so they pressed their way to a dominating first half in a District 2AAAA game in Edward A. Ortiz Memorial Gymnasium.

Capital (9-8 overall, 2-1 2AAAA) jumped out to a 16-3 lead after a quarter and upped it to 38-15 after a half with the help of 11 steals.

"We needed to get back to where we were (before a 56-35 loss at Los Alamos)," Capital head coach Ray Henderson said. "We did what we needed to do to take care of business."

The Lady Jaguars did it in front of Española Valley head coach Ron Drake, who was scouting in preparation for today's game at Capital. He saw Dominique Vigil-Lovato score 18 points, Keisha Salinas add 15, Karla Gallegos get 12 and Vandora Montoya chip in with 10.

NMSD 44, Victory Christian 26

The Lady Roadrunners' defensive prowess glowed from the scoreboard in Larson Gymnasium.

For eight minutes, Victory Christian could not add to its 10-point, first-quarter output. For 8 minutes, the Centurions changed the "0" to "5."

New Mexico School for the Deaf held Victory Christian to a combined five points in the second and third quarters of the District 2A game.

The Lady Roadrunners increased an 11-10 lead after a quarter to 23-10 at halftime and 35-15 at the end of the third.

"We opened the game tense, but once they warmed up, they caught on," Letty Perez, NMSD head coach, wrote in an e-mail. "Their confidence built up as the game progressed."

Kimberly Herrera scored 15 of her 19 points in the first half for the Lady Roadrunners (8-7, 3-3 2A). Karina Mitchell added nine rebounds and eight steals to her 19 points, while Caldonia Wilding had four points, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

Desert Academy 58, Santa Fe Waldorf 22 

The pressure came fast and quick from the Lady Wildcats in a District 2A game.

The Lady Wolves couldn't handle it in the first quarter, and trailed 21-3.

The margin was 29-9 at the half and 41-13 after three quarters even though Desert Academy (12-7 overall, 3-0 2A) abandoned the press after the hot start.

"We missed a few layups, but we had a pretty decent press," Desert Academy head coach Natalie Passalacqua said. "Then we took off the press and tried a bunch of different things, some different defenses."

Maredith Davis led the Lady Wildcats with 20 points, while Estrella Flores had 14 points and 13 steals.

The Lady Wolves (1-9, 0-3) weren't completely a one-woman team, even though Sophia Richards had 14 points.

"We had five players today and four of our five scored," Waldorf head coach Daniel Wendland said.

BOYS

Santa Fe Waldorf 70, Desert Academy 60

The Wolves opened a 20-3 advantage after one quarter before winning the District 2A game of attrition in Fort Marcy Complex.

Waldorf had three players foul out. Desert Academy had four.

The Wolves stretched their lead to 37-18 at halftime and 54-34 heading into the fourth quarter. The first quarter, though, was the difference.

"Everyone working together on offense, moving the ball well, taking advantage and getting a mad down low," Jake Yeager, Waldorf head coach, said of the things his Wolves did to get the early lead.

From the second quarter on, Waldorf tried to stay out of foul trouble. It didn't work.

"We finished with five players," Yeager said. "In the middle of the fourth, we were exchanging baskets. If they got the ball down low, we had to let them score."

Brad Linch scored 29 points and Maclean Benard added 12 for the Wolves (7-7, 3-0 2A).

For Desert Academy, Alex Kokesh scored 18 points, while David Schmidtheisler and Jeremy Upsal added 14 points apiece.

Española Valley 87, Bernalillo 57

The Sundevils made it 14 straight wins as they breezed past the Spartans in a District 2AAAA game in Edward Medina Gymnasium.

Española only led 12-11 after one quarter but exploded for 30 points in the second for a 42-30 half time lead then outscored Bernalillo 19-9 in the third.

Rodney Coles and Gabe Rodriguez each had 14 points to lead the Sundevils (20-1 overall, 4-2 2AAAA).

Aaron Aragon scored 13, and Zach Trujillo had 12.