What happened: Greenwood opened district play with an 80–26 road win over Monahans on Friday, Jan. 16. The victory moves the Rangers to 15–9 overall and 1–0 in district, while Monahans drops to 1–22 overall and 0–1 in district. Jonathan Mendoza led Greenwood with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, followed by Austin Snodgrass with 13 and Noah Rivas with 11.

The big picture: Greenwood took control almost immediately. Colton Rauman opened the scoring, and the Rangers rattled off a 14–2 run early in the first quarter behind baskets from Rauman, Noah Rivas, and Austin Snodgrass. Trip Legendre capped the opening surge with a corner 3-pointer as Greenwood built a commanding 23–4 lead by the end of the quarter.

The Rangers continued to dictate the pace in the second quarter. Andrick Rodriguez and Weston Turnage added baskets inside and from the perimeter, while Greenwood’s defense limited Monahans to six points in the period. Rauman converted late free throws to help Greenwood carry a 31–10 advantage into halftime.

Greenwood put the game away coming out of the break. Jonathan Mendoza ignited the third quarter with a barrage of 3-pointers, knocking down four triples in a span of just over two minutes as the Rangers stretched the lead past 30. Rivas and Rauman followed with scores of their own, and Greenwood outscored Monahans 23–13 in the quarter to take a 54–23 lead into the fourth.

With the outcome decided, Greenwood kept its foot on the gas in the final period. Samuel Saenz buried a pair of 3-pointers, Rodriguez finished inside, and Legendre added another triple as the Rangers closed the night with a 26–3 fourth quarter to seal the 80–26 district-opening win.

Go deeper:

Greenwood scoring: Jonathan Mendoza — 16, Austin Snodgrass — 13, Noah Rivas — 11, Colton Rauman — 9, Samuel Saenz — 8, Trip Legendre — 6, Andrick Rodriguez — 6, Payton Roberson — 5, Weston Turnage — 3, Ethan Rybolt — 3

Monahans scoring: Hugo Yanez — 8, Nick Scott — 7, Jason Munoz — 5, Sebastian Valenzuela — 2, Braylon Saenz — 2, Nikolas Shroeder — 2

What’s next: Greenwood continues district play on the road at Pecos (7–16 overall, 0–1 in district) on Tuesday, January 20, with tipoff scheduled for 7:45 p.m.