Photo by Bryan Oller. Sami Benge-Kulzer takes a shot on Jan. 21, during the Mustangs’ game against Ellicott.

The Manitou Springs girls basketball team ended its five-game losing streak and clamped down defensively to beat Florence 46-17 on Feb. 1. 

The game had originally been scheduled to be played a day later, but the incoming snowstorm prompted a reschedule and the Mustangs made the trip a day early. The change didn’t seem to affect them at all. 

Lexi Vigil caught fire early and knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half to help the Mustangs (7-8 overall, 3-6 Tri-Peaks) build a 23-9 lead at halftime. Abby Parker led the scoring effort in the second half as she knocked down a pair of 3s in the third quarter.

Vigil led all scorers with 15 points and Parker added 13. 

“It was nice to get our seniors back into the swing of running offenses and getting the team some momentum on the offensive side of things,” coach Jessie Nunley said. 

This was a crucial win for the Mustangs; they hadn’t registered one since Jan. 11, when they beat Eagle Ridge Academy on the road. 

The hope is that this could be a turning point for the regular season. The Mustangs have four games remaining, three of which are against league opponents.

Two of those three teams currently sit above the Mustangs in the Tri-Peaks standings, so getting wins against Buena Vista and Lamar will be crucial when it comes to seeding for the district tournaments. 

As always, the Mustangs need several good things to go their way, but they’re just trying to take everything one game at a time. And the first step of that process was getting back in the win column against a league opponent.

“It was an important reminder that our hard work that we’ve been putting in is paying off,” Nunley said. “Some of those tough losses made it tough to remember that. It was good to get a little bit of momentum that will continue to push us forward.”