Rams, Lady Rams play at home this weekend

Portales High will be hosting round-of-16 games this weekend in the Class 3A state basketball tournament.

The Rams earned a No. 5 seed on the boys side and take a 17-10 record into Saturday's matchup with 12th-seeded West Las Vegas (9-18), while the Lady Rams (20-6) are seeded third and host 14th-seeded St. Michael's (13-15) on Friday night.

Both games are set for 7 p.m. tipoffs at the Ram Athletic Center.

The PHS boys have already faced West once this season, beating the Dons 71-60 in the Portales Shoot Out at the RAC on Jan. 12. Against common opponents, the Rams have posted an 8-3 record while the Dons are 3-8.

Portales edged Lovington 61-58 at home on Saturday night in the District 4-3A tournament championship game.

The Lady Rams, who took their district tourney title with a 56-44 win over Lovington at home on Saturday, have gone 7-1 against common opponents of St. Michael's this season, while the Lady Horsemen are 3-4.

Three area teams qualified for the Class 1A state tournament, and all three will be at home in the opening round.

The Dora boys (21-6) earned the fourth seed and faces No. 13 Menaul in a 5 p.m. start. Meantime in Friday girls matchups, fourth-seeded Floyd (16-12) faces No. 13 Mescalero (13-12) and No. 8 Dora (17-10) takes on ninth-seeded Cloudcroft, with both games set to tip at 6 p.m.

First-round winners advance to state quarterfinals the following week. Girls quarterfinals are slated for March 12, with boys quarters the following day.