Fort Stockton Middle School’s boys and girls basketball teams came off the holiday break on Jan. 9 and had mixed results as the boys traveled to Greenwood and the Prowler girls played host to the Rangerettes.

On the boy’s side, the seventh grade A-team Panthers took down Greenwood, 40-24.

“The Panthers proved to be superior to the Rangers in all aspects including defense, rebounding and scoring,” coach Humberto Renteria said.

Jeremiah Gonzalez led the team with 13 points, followed by Niki Sotelo with eight points, John Patino six, as well as Jordan Cable, Leto and Andrian Rivera four.

“The breakthrough performances of the night however came at the hands of Roger Cortez who scored a season high of three points and Christian Gonzalez with a dominating two,” Renteria added.

*The seventh grade White Team traveled to Greenwood Monday. The game was close throughout and was tied at the start of three separate quarters, including at halftime. The Panthers were down by two points as the last seconds were running out in the fourth quarter. Unable to get a shot off, the Panthers ended the night with a heartbreaking defeat.

Coach De Leon said he is proud of the efforts put forth by his athletes.

“Determination, discipline, work ethic and heart were shown,” he added. “There’s nothing more a coach could ask for from his players.”

*The eighth grade B squad lost to Greenwood 38-12. Arick Palacios had five points, Emiliano Robles three, Jesse Montoya two, Hugo Galindo one and Alex Montoya one.

*The eighth grade blue team was back on the road after the break and headed to Greenwood to kick off the second half of the season. Even though the blue team fought hard and showed true heart on the court, the Panthers fell 52-17.

Angel Lujan put up a majority of the points for the Panthers, along with Rylee Muniz and Zane Castillo. The Panthers defense put pressure against the Rangers offense. The Panthers won the turnover battle and took care of the ball on the offensive end.