Farmers provide frosty reception to Center

Sargent registers two girls over double-digits

MONTE VISTA — With snow on the roads making things for hard on teams trying to travel for their games Friday, a meeting between close neighbors Center and Sargent went off without a hitch. The Center (3-5) girls only had to travel a mere 5 miles for their meeting with the Farmers (3-5), a meeting the home team would take by a score of 57-30.
Since having started the season 1-2 at the Mountain Top Classic things haven’t gotten much easier for the Sargent girls. A three game skid was just recently offset by a 32-19 win for the Farmers against Mancos (0-8) before the Christmas season.  Center opened their season 2-1 taking third place at the Thunderbird Shootout to start the season. The Vikings would then go off course with a 1-2 run before the holiday break and January 5th’s loss to Rocky Ford (5-5) put the Vikings below .500 on the season.
Both squads entered Friday’s contest in need of a notch in the left column.
Alexia Aguilera and Lexxi Aguilar got the Farmers started right combining for eight points to take a 14-12 lead heading into the second quarter. Aguilar would finish second in scoring for Sargent with 13 points.
The first quarter would be the most productive for Center, with four points from junior Brandi Almeida. Almeida led the Vikings in scoring with 10 points.
In the second stanza Sargent separated themselves with another double-digit quarter while keeping Center to just four points for a 27-16 lead at the half. Coming back from the locker rooms Sargent continued to enforce their will reeling off 19 points in the third quarter thanks to a three-pointer from Lainie Dillon and 6 points from Aguilar.  Dillon’s second trey of the night came in the fourth as part of a seven point quarter from the senior, capping a 20 point game.
The win is the second in a row for the Sargent Farmers putting them on a nice little streak heading into their scheduled meeting with Custer County (3-5) Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The loss marks the third in a row for the Vikings and things won’t get any easier as they are scheduled to meet local powerhouse Del Norte (7-0) Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Pepper spices things up from beyond the arc

MONTE VISTA — Center is a stone's throw away from neighbor Sargent and the snow would not stop the league meeting. In a competitive game on Friday night the Sargent Farmers (4-4) dispatched the Center Vikings (2-6) by a score of 63-50.
Since the Mountain Top Classic, where they went 1-2, Sargent has been looking for a turning point to their season. However games against highly ranked Sangre de Cristo (6-1) and 3A’s Lamar (8-2) have been something of an impediment to that goal.
Center earned an early win against Centennial (1-4) to start the season at the Thunderbird Shootout Center faltered with two  losses to finish the tournament in fourth place. Two more losses to start December and the Vikings were in the midst of a four game losing streak. Since then Center ended the streak with a 66-43 win over Sierra Grande (2-6) before the holiday break.
Things stayed tight through the first quarter of play Friday night. With three pointers from Kage Pepper and Frank Torres the Farmers took a 14-12 lead. Nine of the Vikings 12 points came thanks to Devin Porres who drained a three pointer of his own. \
In the second quarter leading 23-20 Pepper drained another three-pointer to spur an 8-3 run for the Farmers who would take a 31-23 lead into the half. Having built space between themselves and Center the Farmers would maintain that lead through the remainder of play.
Pepper would lead the Farmers in scoring in the third period with another pair of threes putting Sargent ahead 48-35 entering the fourth. Pepper was on the mark Friday night hitting his fifth trey in the fourth quarter to lead Sargent in scoring on the night with 16 points. Center’s leading scorer was Devin Porres who totaled 17 points on Friday night.
The win makes it two in a row heading into Sargent’s league meeting with Custer County (2-6) on Saturday at 7 p.m. Center will look to cleanse their palette with their Saturday game against Del Norte (3-4), tip off is slated for 6 p.m.