BLANCA – A meeting of two teams with the Panthers as their mascot took place Tuesday as the Sierra Grande High School boys basketball teams hosted John Mall at the SGHS gym.

Sierra Grande had three players score in double figures as it went on to take a 53-36 victory.

Brian Ontiveros and Manuel Miranda both made 3-point baskets to give Sierra Grande an early 6-0 lead. Adrian Silva put John Mall on the scoreboard with a layup, but Miranda made another three to increase the lead to 9-2.

Nino Cisneros and Elton Chavez both scored to help John Mall close its deficit to 9-6. Miranda made a short jumper, but Jaydn Barela scored to cut the Sierra Grande lead to 11-8 at the end of the first quarter.

The teams opened the second quarter by trading baskets before Jaydn Martinez and Tyler Kester scored back-to-back layups. Miranda made another trey, followed by Ontiveros scoring five straight points. Martinez scored in the paint to give Sierra Grande a 29-12 lead with 1:55 left in the half.

Chavez scored a layup and a free throw to end the Sierra Grande run, however, Martinez scored five straight points for a 34-15 advantage. Chavez split at the free throw line, but Ontiveros scored just before the quarter expired and Sierra Grande led 36-16 at the intermission.

Silva opened the third quarter with a layup, but Martinez answered with a jumper on the other side. Chavez then scored two baskets in a row, and Adrian Vallejos knocked down a jumper to help John Mall close to within 38-24.

Ontiveros made another 3-pointer and Sierra Grande led 41-24 at the end of the third quarter.

John Mall came out for the fourth quarter on a roll as it scored six straight points to close to within 41-30. Miranda made another three, but Cisneros and Chavez both scored to cut the deficit to 44-34.

Miranda ended the run, however, Chavez made two free throws. That would be John Mall’s final points of the game as Sierra Grande scored the final seven points to take the 17-point victory.

Miranda was Sierra Grande’s leading scorer with 19 points which included five 3-point baskets. Martinez was next with 15 points, and Ontiveros scored 13.

Chavez led John Mall with 19 points.

Sierra Grande (5-5) will play at Primero on Thursday. Then it will host Creede on Friday and travel to Antonito on Saturday.

Sierra Grande 53, John Mall 36

John Mall – Chavez 7 5-7 19, J. Barela 1 2-4 4, Cisneros 3 1-1 7, Silva 2 0-0 4, Bobian 0 0-0 0, G. Barela 0 0-0 0, Garcia 0 0-0 0, Vallejos 1 0-0 2. Total 14 8-12 36.

3-point goals – none.

Sierra Grande – Valencia-Lucero 0 0-0 0, Ontiveros 5 0-0 13, Miranda 7 0-0 19, Kester 2 0-0 4, Ojeda 1 0-0 2, D. Martinez 0 0-0 0, Mizokami 0 0-0 0, J. Martinez 7 1-3 15, Najera 0 0-0 0, A. Lopez 0 0-0 0, C. Lopez 0 0-2 0, Casados 0 0-0 0. Total 18 1-5 53.

3-point goals – Miranda 8, Ontiveros 3. Total 8.

John Mall 8 8 8 12 – 36

Sierra Grande 11 25 5 12 – 53

Fouls – John Mall 8, Sierra Grande 12.