Lady Bulldogs end non-district play with loss at Hobbs
![](https://www.artesianews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Artesia_Public_Schools_NM_logo.png)
Jason Farmer
Hobbs News-Sun
The Hobbs girls’ basketball team played its final non-district game of the season Friday, though there wasn’t much competition as the Lady Eagles made quick work of the visiting Lady Bulldogs from Artesia. Hobbs won 79-30, extending their school record to 28 consecutive wins on the Tasker Arena hardwood.
“No matter who we play on any given night, we try to play the best we can,” Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter said. “That is all I can ask of the kids.”
“It was exciting,” Hobbs senior and U.S. Air Force-bound senior Bhret Clay said of being back on the Tasker Arena hardwood. “We love playing at home in front of our community and our crowd. It is fun.”
The Lady Eagles opened the game with an 11-0 run and never slowed down. By the end of the opening eight minutes, Hobbs had a 24-point lead. All five of the Lady Eagles’ starters scored in the first quarter as Hobbs poured in 33 points while allowing just nine.
The first quarter was the most successful eight-minute period for the visiting Lady Bulldogs all night. Artesia went to the charity stripe six times in the first quarter, sinking its first five attempts. The Lady Bulldogs recorded just two buckets in the opening quarter.
While Artesia couldn’t get anything going, Hobbs was doing just the opposite, scoring almost at will. The Lady Eagles had four of their 10 treys in the first quarter.
“We came home where we like to shoot,” the Lady Eagles’ coach said. “Our road shooting is a concern and we are at that time of the year where every game matters now. Every game has an effect on our season.”
Clay and Brynn Hargrove each scored seven points in the first quarter while Kyndle Cunningham had six. Matysen Zepeda had two buckets for four points. Nakia Mojica had one trey while Kacelynn Muniez hit a pair of treys for six points.
“(The girls) got after it,” Carpenter said. “They hit four threes in the quarter and had a lot of easy buckets. I cant complain too much at all with the kids and their effort.”
The Lady Eagles put the game out of reach in the second quarter, outscoring Artesia 28-8. As Hobbs went into halftime, the Lady Eagles held a commanding 57-17 lead.
Five different players scored in double figures for the Lady Eagles, four starters and one reserve. Clay, Hargrove, Cunningham, and Zepeda all scored 12 points each and Muniez chipped in 11 off the bench.
“We were feeding off our defense and just moving the ball,” Clay said. “We were feeding off each other and making the extra pass.”
Cunningham and Clay each had nine rebounds to go with their 12 points. As a team, the Lady Eagles nearly doubled up the Lady Bulldogs on the glass, pulling down 36 rebounds to Artesia’s 19.
“We were all blocking out,” Cunningham said, “and whoever saw the ball, went and got the ball. Our teammates were just helping us.”
With a 40-point lead to start the fourth quarter, a running clock was put in motion. Even with the running clock, the Lady Eagles still managed to increase their lead to 50 points, outscoring Artesia 16-6 for a 72-23 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
With the exception of Mojica and Zepeda, the Lady Eagles starters did not play in the fourth quarter. Zepeda scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter, 13 seconds into the fourth quarter and was quickly removed. As for Mojica, the New Mexico Highlands University-bound senior was out with the second and third string players getting the younger players to contribute valuable minutes without losing any ground to the Lady Bulldogs.
Hobbs and Artesia each put seven points on the board in the final eight minutes of play.
With the win, Hobbs improves to 19-1 on the season. The Lady Eagles have won 19 straight games, the second-longest winning streak in program history.
Hobbs will begin district play on Tuesday when the Lady Eagles make the trip to Roswell for a matchup with the Lady Coyotes (13-6). The Roswell girls are ranked No. 12 in Class 5A.
“It is the most meaningful game of the year,” Carpenter said. “If we lose that game, it will put us in a real rock and a hard place situation. These (district) games mean something now.”
“We need to execute a little better,” Cunningham said of when district play starts. “We have got to speed things up and play together.”