Lady Rams dominate Hatch Valley

With the kind of start the Portales High girls got off to Friday night, they could have been competitive with pretty much any team in the state.

CMI correspondent: Joshua LuceroPHS sophomore McKenzie Bucksath puts up a layup in front of Hatch Valley's Audrey Hackey during Friday's girls matchup in the Portales Shoot Out at the Ram Athletic Center.

Against Class 2A Hatch Valley, the result turned out to be pretty noncompetitive, as the Lady Rams led throughout during a 46-17 drubbing at the Ram Athletic Center.

Sheraya Cox scored 11 points to lead three players in double figures for Portales (10-4), which led by as many as 37 points while holding the Lady Bears to 30 percent shooting to go with 30 turnovers.

"We got off to a great, great start," Portales coach Clay Stout said after a game which saw the Lady Rams take a 31-4 halftime lead behind an aggressive trapping defense that forced 20 turnovers. "I thought our execution was good, offensively and defensively. We were sharp from the start."

Kambrey Blakey and Savannah Vincent each added 10 points, while McKenzie Bucksath scored eight points to go with six rebounds.

Fourth-year Hatch Valley coach Sara Davis said the Lady Bears (5-7) had a tough matchup from the start, despite responding well in the second half.

"We haven't faced a trap like that, and we were a little shell-shocked," Davis said.

Portales took its biggest lead to start the fourth quarter when Blakey hit the Lady Rams' only 3-pointer for a 44-7 lead, but the teams played mostly even for the final 7 1/2 minutes as the Lady Rams switched to a zone defense Stout wanted the team to work on in a game scenario.

Both teams are back in action Saturday night. Hatch opens the four-game Portales Shoot Out set against Roswell Goddard, while the Lady Rams face Pojoaque in the 7 p.m. finale.