"It's like it feels real good when you're on," Ortiz said. "You see it go through the net before your eyes let it go."

The 5-foot-7 junior guard got her first 3 in the second quarter to help the Bears garner a 20-13 halftime lead. She then hit a 3-point jumper from the shoulder of the arc a half minute into the third quarter to expand the advantage to 23-13.

Ortiz also slung in a swished trey, yet again from the arc's shoulder, to give Estancia a 34-20 lead with 1:40 to go in the third. Her final bomb, this time launched without any hesitation, came with 2:15 remaining in the game, and it was probably her most important one as it gave the Bears a 39-30 cushion and stopped a run.

Ortiz, in addition, sank a near trey for a long 2-pointer with a minute to go in the third quarter. This one came from the deep corner and provided EHS with a 36-22 lead.

The Bears improved to 11-6, 1-0 in district. The Bobcats dropped to 6-10, 0-2.

Estancia led 10-7 after the initial eight minutes of play. The Bears were up 36-24 after three quarters.

Erin Thomas, who guided EHS when in a halfcourt set, inspired her team in the beginning with her feisty play. The junior had 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Bear Shawna Blaisure, now much more comfortable with her post moves, had 11 points, seven of which were netted in the first half. She displayed a proficient turn-and-step, up-and-under layup.

"I'm more aggressive this year," said Blaisure, a 5-9 junior. "And I'm posting up more."

Estancia is the reigning 8-2A tournament champion.

"It's a real good win," Bears coach Ernest Renteria said. "It started out with them in a 1-3-1 zone. That's why we put Desirae Ortiz on the outside. But then when they closed on Desi, we could get it inside to Shawna. They had to respect Desi, but then they also had to respect Shawna.

"I expected a tough game here," the coach continued. "They (the Bobcats) always play us tough. But defensively, I think we played a good game."

Besides Ortiz, Estancia's remaining scorers were sophomore Aylissa Lujan, who had four points, and sophomore Rachel Ness with three. Often the Bears would zip passes around the perimeter against the Bobcats' zone, but the ball only infrequently was sent into the corner in which Ness was positioned.

Lujan was scolded by Renteria for getting a technical after she was sent sprawling onto the hardwood at midcourt with 1:25 left in the third quarter. Bosque's Marissa Martinez canned two free throws as a result to close the gap to 34-22.

Another key play for Estancia was on a Blaisure layup after she made a streaking cut down the middle to receive an inbounds pass from a heady Ortiz with 2:24 left in the third. The Bears led 31-20.

In addition, Lujan made a steal and capitalized with a layup with 2:02 to go in the fourth for a 41-30 lead. Lujan snapped the net with a set shot from the corner off another Ortiz inbounds pass with 10 seconds remaining. That rounded out the scoring.

Seniors Haley Coburn and Robin Jones played noticeably less minutes than they had had at the beginning of the season, including at the Bears-hosted Bean Valley Conference Tournament on Jan. 7-9.

Louisa Mackenzie had 11 points, Danielle Rivera eight and Martinez seven for the Bears' private-school opponent.

Jemez Valley's Warriors, last year's district runners-up, come to Estancia tonight.

"Jemez beat Bosque by 2 (points)," Renteria said. "They have some good shooters. They usually run a 2-3 zone."

Estancia also beat Pecos 41-27 in a nondistrict home game Saturday. The Bears' scoring leaders were Blaisure (12 points), Thomas (10) and sophomore Tori Crider (eight).

Estancia boys

The Bears (11-6) have been idle since Jan. 23. They were to have hosted Bosque in a district game Wednesday, but that game, which had already been rescheduled from Friday because of the weather, was postponed once again due to the recent snowstorm.

Dusty Giles, Estancia's athletic coordinator, said the Bosque game has now tentatively been rescheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.