Balanced Rams gain first win

Nathan Chavez didn't appear to be "on" with his early shots off the bench Friday night.

That changed in a hurry, though. After missing a couple of 3-pointers, the junior forward went off for 14 points in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the half to help Portales High's boys pull away from Friona 78-47 at the Ram Athletic Center.

The win was the first in three games for new Rams coach Rickie McBroom. Portales put four players in double figures, had two more with nine points and another with six.

CMI correspondent Joshua Lucero

Portales senior Reyes Calbert grabs a rebound in the second quarter of Friday's game against the Friona at the Ram Athletic Center. Calbert finished with 12 points.

"These kids are working so hard, I want them to be successful and they were tonight," McBroom said. "They earned this win."

Portales took the lead for good with a 12-0 first-quarter run, then broke the contest open with an 11-0 surge early in the third quarter.

Chavez got his first points on a breakaway layup with 4:18 left in the half, making it 25-18, then added three 3s and a three-point play before halftime to send Portales into the intermission with a 40-28 cushion.

He added a fourth 3-pointer early in the final period, easily finishing with a career high.

"I'm glad my teammates saw (he was hot)," said Chavez, the Rams' first man off the bench. "They set some good picks for me.

"We played really well tonight. We started to play well right before halftime, and we got another run right after halftime."

McBroom said he tries to instill a "shooter's mentality" with his players.

"We talk to our kids all the time about 'don't worry about the last shot,'" he said. "We're an extremely balanced basketball team. We have a lot of weapons, and our kids are unselfish and share the basketball."

Senior forward Reyes Calbert added 12 points for the Rams, while junior post Zach Campbell and junior guard Jarret Faust each scored 10. Portales finished with eight 3-pointers, including two by Faust.

"Other teams can't prepare for just one of us," Chavez said. "They have to prepare for all of us. It just depends on who's hot that night."

Friona (6-7), with just two seniors on its roster, simply couldn't keep up.

"They're (Rams) real athletic and we're real young," coach David Woods said. "We couldn't hit anything tonight, and we normally don't shoot like that."

He said Portales' defensive pressure was a factor. The Chieftains, who got 11 points each from junior guard Brad Stowers and 6-foot-7 senior post Jake DeWitt, finished with 24 turnovers to 13 for the Rams.

"We've got to learn to handle the pressure better," Woods said. "We didn't get many loose balls tonight, either."

Portales, which lost its first two games to Class 4A Roswell High and Roswell Goddard, faces another stiff test next Friday at Class 5A Clovis.

"Our schedule is just loaded with good people," McBroom said. "That's the (best) way to be able to compete for district and state championships."