It had been nearly a month since the Buena Vista girls basketball team had played when they took to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 5 in their district-opener at Grandfalls-Royalty.

The Lady Longhorns entered the game on a three-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 1 and that streak was extended to four with a dominant performance on Tuesday.

Buena Vista had not previously won a game by more than 10 points leading up to Tuesday’s contest and the Longhorns more than tripled that number in their 51-20 win to open district play.

The game was all but over after the first quarter of play, leading 17-3 behind a well-balanced offense that saw six players score at least two points apiece in the first frame.

Melissa Rodriguez led that group with five points in the first eight minutes of play.

Buena Vista extended their lead to 32-12 by halftime and put it on cruise control from that point forward. The Longhorn’s leading scorer this season, Mariana Sanchez, finished the contest with a game-high 15 points – scoring nine of those points in the second and third quarter.

Rodriguez netted a season-high 10 points while Kylie Dominguez added eight points.

Ireland Sanchez made the Lady Longhorns’ only 3-pointer and finished the game with seven points.

Buena Vista improved their record to 4-2 with the win and have been undefeated since the girl cross country runners, who ran at state, returned to the team.