BLANCA — It was an interleague meeting with Sangre de Cristo and Sierra Grande girls basketball on Thursday night. Sangre took the game over the Panthers by a score of 67-32.

A busy week for the Thunderbirds (12-3, 7-0 SPL) continues. Thursday’s road game at Sierra Grande was Sangre de Cristo’s second game in a week where they’ll be playing four games. The T-Birds entered Thursday’s meeting on a low note dropping a 40-24 meeting with Sanford on Tuesday. Sierra Grande (6-11, 4-3 SPL) cleaned up a three-game skid with 61-17 deconstruction of Lake City on Monday.

Thursday night the Panthers fell into a hole in the first quarter with Sangre de Cristo running out to an 18-8 lead early led by Lexi Metz’s 5 first-quarter points. Sierra Grande’s Rebecca Casados got Sierra Grande on the board first in the second quarter by hitting a three-pointer. Casados would lead the Panthers going into the half with 5 points.

Sangre de Cristo continued to push the pace led by Kylee Christensen’s 7 third-quarter points eventually triggering a running clock in the final 8 minutes. Christensen would cash in on 6 visits to the free-throw line for 8 points to lead the T-Birds in scoring with 19 points. Christensen was followed in scoring by senior Makenzie Rogers who finished her night with 11 points.

Sierra Grande’s Destinee DeLeon tied for the team lead in scoring with Vivian Carrell, both girls put up 6 points on Thursday evening.

The win puts Sangre de Cristo back in the win column. The Thunderbirds will have a short turnaround staying on the road for a meeting with Manzanola (2-12) on Friday. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. according to MaxPreps.  Sierra Grande will go back to the drawing board. The Panthers will attempt to turn it around on Friday night when they visit neighbor Centennial (5-8, 4-4 SPL), tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.