Three different teams showed up to play on Tuesday night in a District 5-4A opener between Guyer and The Colony.

The defending district champion Lady Cougars were on the floor at Wildcat Gymnasium, along with two different Guyer teams — one that could score but couldn’t stop The Colony, and one that held the Lady Cougars to a respectable first-half total but couldn’t find the bucket.

“It was a tale of two halves for us,” said Guyer head coach Charla Valenzuela. “We couldn’t shoot very well offensively, and defensively we held them to 26 points the first half, which isn’t really that bad. We gave them a few too many points but we couldn’t score. The second half we decided to score but not play defense.”

The Lady Wildcats (3-12, 0-1) appeared to be in for a ball game early, as they were within four points with three minutes to play in the first quarter.

The Lady Cougars (9-5, 1-0) picked up some quick fouls and had two key starters with three fouls before the first half was even over, but the Lady Wildcats couldn’t make them pay.

Guyer shot 4-for-10 from the foul line in the first half, and missed two front ends of one-and-one situations when the game was still well within reach.

The only player in double figures for the Lady Wildcats was Courtney Gregory, who finished with a game-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers. No other Guyer players scored more than six points (Caitlin Owens).

The Colony, on the other hand, had good scoring distribution, with only Derrein Williams in double figures with 13 points. The Lady Cougars had three players with nine points, one with eight and one with seven.

Starting guard Santana Francisco, who finished with eight points, picked up her fourth foul of the night just 30 seconds into the second half, and another starting guard, Ashlee Ferguson, picked up No. 4 near the end of the third quarter, but by that point, The Colony held a 22-point advantage.

“When they have three of their starters with four fouls and you put them in that situation, you’ve got to keep going to the hole and foul some of those scorers out of the game to give yourself a better opportunity to win,” Valenzuela said.

The closest Guyer got in the second half was midway through the fourth when the Lady Wildcats went on a mini-run and cut the Lady Cougars’ lead to 49-32 with a chance to cut it to 15. But they missed the front end of another one-and-one.

“I don’t care if they’re [The Colony] the worst or the first team in the district — we didn’t play like we’re capable of playing,” Valenzuela said. “That was a loss. We got our tails handed to us on that one, but you live and you learn. They’re gonna feel regret and defeat and you hope they don’t like how that feels and turn it around.”

The Lady Wildcats will get their first chance at redemption on Friday when they travel to Wichita Falls Rider, which dropped Tuesday’s district opener to Ryan.

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com

The Colony 60, Guyer 35

The Colony (9-5, 1-0) — Santana Francisco 8, Megan Francisco 2, Kylie Covington 2, Darrein Williams 13, Sarah Swanson 7, Ashlee Ferguson 9, Tabbatha Thurmond 9, Angelina Curttie 9, Terra Ellison 1.

Guyer (3-12, 0-1) — Courtney Gregory 14, Jasmine Badiru 2, Tiara Bradley 3, Jocelyn Cook 3, Caitlin Owens 6, Ashley McEntire 2, Kailey McEntire 5.