The Compass Academy girls basketball team got its first win of the season with a 36-12 victory over Iraan in a nondistrict game Tuesday at home.
With most of its players back for the season, the Lady Cougars moved to 1-2 overall while the Bravettes fell to 1-7.
“It’s the first time that I have all 10 players back,” Compass Academy head coach Christina Bush said. “The last couple of games, I’ve only had eight and nine, so it’s nice to have my full roster back together.”
The Lady Cougars were led in scoring by Peyton Stewart’s 12 points while Lindsey Ruiz had 10 and Emma Coleman had seven.
Compass Academy’s defense only allowed two points from Iraan in the first quarter and in the fourth.
“We focus on defense a lot,” Bush said. “Playing against Andrews, they scored a lot of points on us. Something had to change, so we now have a defensive mind. Now we’re putting the pieces together on the defensive end. We can create more havoc there and create more turnovers.”
Iraan was led in scoring by Camma Cravens who had five points while her teammate Kali Davis had four.
“I thought we played a great game, defensively,” Iraan head coach Amye Templeton said. “All year, that’s been our best part. We’re just slowly getting our offense going.”
The Lady Cougars began the evening on a 7-0 run.
The Bravettes managed to get a basket before the end of the first frame as Compass Academy ended the quarter ahead, 7-2.
Neither team could get many baskets in the opening minutes of the second quarter.
Compass Academy was able to extend its lead on an inside shot by Anahi Gonzalez to make it 11-2 with 3:03 left before halftime.
A 3-pointer by Ellyson Wright gave the Lady Cougars a 16-5 advantage late in the quarter.
Compass Academy had a 10-point lead at the half.
The Lady Cougars began the third quarter with a three-point play to extend their lead.
Compass Academy maintained its scoring surge and soon made it 25-8 with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter.
Compass Academy’s Sareyah Hinojoz added a basket to make it 27-10 at the end of the third quarter.
Lindsey Ruiz scored on a transition basket to make it a 19-point advantage for the Lady Cougars early in the fourth quarter.
Emma Coleman hit an inside jumper and it soon became 31-12, Compass Academy, with under four minutes remaining.
Coleman added a 3-pointer just a few seconds later.
Iraan wouldn’t get another basket before the game’s final buzzer.
The Lady Cougars have a few more games including a tournament before district play begins.
They’ll begin district play on Dec. 12 against Kermit.
“We’re not that far away,” Bush said. “We have McCamey on Friday and then a tournament and then we have Presidio at home, so district is just around the corner. We need to fine-tune our offense and take what we do on the side and execute on the floor and clean up our defense and then we should be ready to go for district. We have a tough district.”
