In the Valencia girls basketball team's 52-47 home loss to Del Norte in the season's first District 5-4A match-up, the Lady Jaguars once again demonstrated that the young team is maturing.

In their first year of varsity competition last year, the Jaguars were smothered twice by the Knights, 64-24 and 36-18. On Tuesday, with one of its main cogs sitting on the bench with foul trouble, Valencia, down 20 points late in the game, mounted a furious comeback and almost overtook Del Norte.

"That's the thing about how we've matured from last year," said coach Shannon Vigil. "If that (a 20-point deficit) would have happened last year, and it did happen, we didn't do anything about it. They'd get up by 30 and then by 40. This year, instead of giving in, we just fought."

The Jaguars (9-11, 0-1 District 5-4A after Tuesday) were set to travel to Moriarty on Friday, after News-Bulletin press time. They will then hit the road for games against Albuquerque Academy on Tuesday and Del Norte on Friday. Both games will start at about 7 p.m.

Against the Knights (11-10, 1-0), who are coached by Peralta resident David Medina, the Jaguars started strongly, taking a 15-13 first quarter lead.

"The first quarter they pressed us and we broke it and got baskets, so we forced them to take the press off," Vigil said. "They also ran man against us and we got buckets, so they had to change to zone. We're doing things right when coaches have to change up their game plan."

However, with high-scoring Michelle Traynham sitting on the bench with foul trouble, the Jaguars offense broke down and they were outscored 15-3 in the critical second quarter.

The 28-18 halftime deficit extended to 20 points into the fourth quarter, again with Traynham mostly sitting on the bench with foul trouble.

And then the Jaguars mounted their comeback. With Miranda Ibuado hitting from outside and Emma Hart connecting on mid-range jumpers, the Jaguars narrowed the gap to five points, but could come no closer.

Ibuado finished with 17 points, including three three-pointers. Hart scored 12 points and Mikayla Gallegos had nine. Meanwhile, Traynham could only contribute two.

"I think Michelle's foul trouble was the difference in the game," Vigil said.

The Jaguars' free throw shooting, a season-long problem, suddenly became a strong point in Tuesday's game. Valencia converted 17 of 19 attempts from the charity stripe.

Del Norte was led by 17 points from Brittany Meyers and 12 from Peralta resident Maricel Medina.

"Their coaches were complimenting us about our free throw shooting after the game," an obviously pleased Vigil said.

The Jaguars' ability to give the Knights a good game is evidence that the Jags can be competitive in district, she said.

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