Rams cruise past Robertson

The Portales High boys basketball team traveled on Easy Street Monday night for the first time this season.

Taking control of the game with a 12-0 run over the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first quarter, the Rams routed Las Vegas Robertson 63-36 at the PHS gym.

Senior Chris Carter was Portales’ only double-figure scorer with 16 points, but 10 of 11 Rams who saw action broke into the scoring column. Meantime, PHS (3-3) held the Cardinals (2-3) to just 30 percent shooting from the field and forced 27 turnovers.

“It was a pretty good defensive effort,” Rams coach Mark Gallegos said. “It was good to get a win and nice to get everybody in the game.

“I thought everybody contributed tonight, and that’s the way it’s got to be.”

Junior Craig Cassidy’s 3-pointer staked Robertson to a 9-6 lead with three minutes left in the opening period, but senior Chris Kirchner scored all six of his points to finish off the run which staked the Rams to a 19-6 lead at the quarter.

“We took a step up tonight on defense,” said PHS senior Jack Hale, who scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting while also grabbing eight rebounds. “We got a lot of good playing time for everybody, and we just played hard.”

The Rams went on an 11-2 run over the final 5:15 of the half for a 34-18 lead, and stretched that to 22 points with the first three baskets of the third quarter.

Junior guard Daniel Aranda grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds. Senior post Bo Gabriel, back after sitting out a one-game suspension, had six points, eight rebounds and two assists.

“Having Bo back helps us out a lot,” Hale said. “He’s a pretty important factor on our team with his rebounding, scoring and defense.”

Portales’ biggest lead was 27 points on two occasions early in the fourth quarter.

No one reached double figures for Robertson. The Cardinals’ high scorer was junior Anthony Pacheco with seven points.

Portales 63, Robertson 36

Las Vegas Robertson (2-3) — Justin Montoya 1 0-0 2, Joseph Valdez 0 0-0 0, Lucas Sanchez 0 0-0 0, Brett Dolan 2 0-0 5, Ryan Chavarria 2 0-0 5, Nathan Vigil 2 1-1 5, Jeremy Chavez 0 4-4 4, Mario Ulibarri 0 0-0 0, Craig Cassidy 1 1-2 4, Anthony Pacheco 1 5-6 7, Isaih Archuleta 1 2-2 4. Totals 10 13-15 36.

Portales (3-3) — Cruz Ontiveros 2-2 3-4 7, Daniel Aranda 3-9 0-0 6, Jonathan Garcia 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Kierchner 2-7 2-3 6, Bo Gabriel 2-6 0-2 4, Trevor Ferguson 1-3 1-2 3, Chris Adkins 2-5 1-2 5,Daniel Boan 1-1 0-0 2, Chris Carter 5-11 4-4 16, Tyler Johnson 3-6 0-0 6, Jack Hale 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 25-56 11-17 63.

Las Vegas Robertson 9 9 8 10 — 36

Portales 18 18 15 16 — 63

3-pointers — Las Vegas Robertson 3-17 (Cassidy, Chavarria, Dolan), Portales 2-16 (Carter 2-8, Aranda 0-1, Ferguson 0-1, Gabriel 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Adkins 0-2, Kirchner 0-2). Rebounds — Las Vegas Robertson 23, Portales 33 (Aranda 9). Assists — Las Vegas Robertson n/a, Portales 10 (Gabriel 2). Total fouls — Las Vegas Robertson 18, Portales 18. Fouled out — Montoya. JV score — Portales 49, Las Vegas Robertson 46. Freshmen — Las Vegas Robertson 71, Portales 62.