BLANCA — Sangre de Cristo boys basketball defeated host Sierra Grande on Tuesday by a score of 67-48. Sangre de Cristo (14-1, 7-0 SPL) entered Thursday’s game coming off their first loss of the year to 3A class New Mexico team, Raton. Sierra Grande (4-11, 3-4) entered Thursday’s contest on a two-game skid, dropping meetings to Sanford and Cotopaxi.

When the action got underway Sangre de Cristo hit the ground running while Sierra Grande took a little while to warm up. Midway through the first, the T-Birds ran out to a 12-0 lead. Following baskets from Sierra Grande’s Caleb Scharsch and Keaton Fisher, Sangre de Cristo owned a 24-4 advantage. The Panthers would close the distance before the quarter but still began the next frame trailing 26-11.

Sierra Grande was sure to play the T-Birds competitively for the rest of the game but were just unable to dig themselves out of the 20-point hole. For every quarter down the stretch, Sierra Grande finished within at most three points of Sangre de Cristo. Sangre de Cristo did well to contain Sierra Grande’s main weapon. The Panther’s leading scorer Isiah Chairez was kept off the scoring sheet.

Meanwhile, the Thunderbird’s own Cole Christensen got his points. Christensen who scored his 1,000th career point earlier this month produced 25 points in the win, 15 of those in the first quarter. The T-Birds would rely on Mario Enriquez down the stretch, the Sangre senior earned 8 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.  Sierra Grande’s Scharsch was an important part of the game plan in the paint and he would spend a good deal of his night shooting from the charity stripe. Drawing fouls worked pretty well and Scharsch would put up 10 of his 19 points from the free-throw line in addition to completing two three-point plays. Behind Scharsch was Thomas Archuleta who drained three 3-pointers and collected 13-point on Thursday.

The win gets Sangre de Cristo back on track, the T-Birds will stay on the road for a road contest with Manzanola (9-5) where they’ll look to continue building steam heading into a meeting with 3A opponent Salida (8-7) on Saturday. Sierra Grande will look to score a turnaround of their own when they go on the road to meet neighbor to the south, Centennial (4-6, 3-4 SPL) the night of basketball is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.

When the action got underway Sangre de Cristo hit the ground running while Sierra Grande took a little while to warm up. Midway through the first, the T-Birds ran out to a 12-0 lead. Following baskets from Sierra Grande’s Caleb Scharsch and Keaton Fisher, Sangre de Cristo owned a 24-4 advantage. The Panthers would close the distance before the quarter but still began the next frame trailing 26-11.

Sierra Grande was sure to play the T-Birds competitively for the rest of the game but were just unable to dig themselves out of the 20-point hole. For every quarter down the stretch, Sierra Grande finished within at most three points of Sangre de Cristo. Sangre de Cristo did well to contain Sierra Grande’s main weapon. The Panther’s leading scorer Isiah Chairez was kept off the scoring sheet.

Meanwhile, the Thunderbird’s own Cole Christensen got his points. Christensen who scored his 1,000th career point earlier this month produced 25 points in the win, 15 of those in the first quarter. The T-Birds would rely on Mario Enriquez down the stretch, the Sangre senior earned 8 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.  Sierra Grande’s Scharsch was an important part of the game plan in the paint and he would spend a good deal of his night shooting from the charity stripe. Drawing fouls worked pretty well and Scharsch would put up 10 of his 19 points from the free-throw line in addition to completing two three-point plays. Behind Scharsch was Thomas Archuleta who drained three 3-pointers and collected 13-point on Thursday.

The win gets Sangre de Cristo back on track, the T-Birds will stay on the road for a road contest with Manzanola (9-5) where they’ll look to continue building steam heading into a meeting with 3A opponent Salida (8-7) on Saturday. Sierra Grande will look to score a turnaround of their own when they go on the road to meet neighbor to the south, Centennial (4-6, 3-4 SPL) the night of basketball is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.