It was just one of those nights.

One where a 6-foot post hit a halfcourt shot and a freshman supplied the dagger to Class AA's second-ranked team.

Peñasco's Abigail Soto hit a 45-footer at the first-quarter buzzer, which contributed to a 22-point night, and freshman teammate Veronica Dominguez hit a crushing 3-pointer in the late stages of a 53-48 win over No. 2 Mora in District 2AA girls basketball Friday night.

The forgotten Lady Panthers, who reached the AA semifinals last year, took the district lead at 4-0 with the win at home. The senior duo of Soto and Marcella Sanchez, who added 17 points, lit the upset path.

"I'll give Peñasco credit," said Mark Cassidy, Mora head coach. "They controlled the tempo and they didn't allow us to get into our run-and-gun style. Abigail and Marcella controlled the pace."

Soto got momentum rolling with her shot, as it gave Peñasco (13-8 overall) a 17-10 lead.

The Lady Panthers increased it to 30-22 at the half and up to 12 points in the third before Mora made a spirited run.

The Rangerettes (20-2, 3-1) tied it at 45 with less than 3 minutes left, but Dominguez rattled in a triple for 48-45. Mora never got closer than that.

"The only thing that counts is finishing and they finished," Cassidy said. "They made their shots and we didn't."

Andrea Romero led the Rangerettes with 17 points, while Destiny Pacheco added 13 and Chantel Rivera 10.

ST. MICHAEL'S 46, SANDIA PREPARATORY 23

The Lady Horsemen used the Lady Sundevils as test subjects in a District 5AAA game in Perez-Shelley Memorial Gymnasium.

They implemented a defense they hadn't used in about a month and went through every set in their playbook against a man-to-man defense.

The results were refreshing, as St. Michael's (16-5, 4-1) led 13-2 after one quarter and 24-7 at the end of the first half.

"We got to work on all that stuff," Lady Horsemen head coach Martin Romero said. "We got some good stuff out of this game."

Alex Chavez had 14 points to lead St. Michael's, and Maggie Fronzak added nine.

BOYS

MCCURDY SCHOOL 67, ESCALANTE 29

The Bobcats played a hot hand in their District 4A opener.

They jumped out to a 15-6 lead after a quarter, expanded it to 35-13 at the break and finally cooled off in the fourth quarter after making it 59-23.

A quartet led the way for McCurdy (7-11), starting with Eric Vigil's 22 points.

Isaiah Lopez added 18, Santiago Lopez scored 12 and Carlos Herrera had 10.

Brandon Gonzales led the Lobos with 14 points.