By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
SAN PERLITA — Sometimes a second or third impression can be just as important as the first.
Such was the philosophy of San Perlita girls basketball coach Marco Munguia after his team’s 51-40 loss to Premont in their second game of the season and the first of the San Perlita Tournament for the hosts Thursday afternoon.
“We’re a week into the season, and a lot of our shots aren’t falling right now,” Munguia said. “We’re going to keep shooting until we start hitting. This was game number two, and we can only get better from here. They say your biggest jump is from game two to three, and that’s what we’re going to look at.”
Premont led 7-5 late in the first quarter when San Perlita’s Meagan Kinney (eight points) sank both of her free throws to tie the game at 7-all with less than two minutes to go in the period.
The visitors added a bucket in the closing seconds of the first to take a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Karime Rojas led the Lady Trojans on the scoresheet with 21 points. After she split a pair of free throws in the second quarter, Aracelly Nieto (four points) picked up an offensive rebound. Nieto drew a foul and made one of two free throws to tie the game at 9 with six minutes to go in the second quarter.
“Karime is a big that can play inside and she can stretch the court,” Munguia said. “And when that happens, that opens up a lot for my other players. She does a great job of creating space. … She’s just a smart player.”
From that point on, the Cowgirls went on a 12-0 run that was cut short only by a three pointer at the top of the key by Rojas to beat the buzzer and bring Premont’s halftime lead to 21-12.
The Lady Trojans roared back to tie the game at 28, and trailed 30-28 at the end of the third quarter after a 16-8 run.
“I thought my girls showed a lot of poise to make that comeback,” Munguia said. “To be down 11 at the half, and then coming back to chip away at that lead going into the third. … It’s really easy to put your heads down and let a lead grow bigger, but the fight in our girls showed that they wanted to make a run, and that’s what we did.”
Premont responded by outscoring San Perlita 21-12 in in the fourth quarter.
Miryna Villareal was Premont’s top scorer, with 15 points. The Cowgirls were 13 of 24 from the free throw line, and the Lady Trojans were 10 of 15 from the charity stripe.