Local hoop teams fare well in tournaments

RIO RANCHO - Games in November and December mean as much as games in February.

Clovis girls basketball teams certainly believe it.

Last year the Lady Wildcats fell shy of the state tournament while Onate was one of the teams that snuck in past them. So when the Lady 'Cats held on to beat Onate 52-48 Thursday night in the start of the Rio Rancho Tournament, it didn't matter the calendar said Dec. 6. It might as well have been February.

"It was a big win for us," Clovis girls head coach Jeff Reed said. "Last year we didn't make the state tournament. Onate was one of the last two teams to get in, so that'll look good for us. That's a big one we'll have over them later on. With the seeding process the way it is in the state tournament, that's a big win for us over another 6A school from another district. Last year we didn't get those and it kind of bit us in the butt."

Clovis had control in the first half, building a 30-21 lead by intermission.

In the second half, the Wildcats went up by nine before using a 6-0 run to make it 15. Then a few brain freezes in the form of missed free throws and a bricked layup allowed Onate to slowly climb back in. Clovis weathered the storm, though, and bagged the win.

"We had a chance to probably win by double digits," Reed said," but we didn't put 'em away like we should've."

Teya Morris led Clovis with 20 points, her second 20-point game this season. "We need her to do that about every game," Reed said.

Madison Tolbert had 11 of her 13 points in the first half.

Clovis will play Mayfield today at 5 p.m., as the tournament continues.

Portales routs St. Mike's

SANTA FE - The Portales Rams girls basketball team routed the St. Michael's Horsemen for the second time in a week. After taking down St. Mike's in the Clovis Shootout last Thursday, the Rams showed that lightning strikes twice in a 58-28 victory over the Horsemen in the first round of Thursday's Santa Fe Tournament.

Portales (4-0) got off to a slow start, leading by just a point after one quarter. In fact, the Rams trailed, 17-14, early in the second period to the struggling Horsemen (1-5). "(St. Mike's) didn't look (any) different (than last week)," Rams coach Wade Fraze explained. "We just didn't show up. We couldn't hit easy, open looks and just too many turnovers."

However, Portales finally got going in the second period and never looked back. The Rams allowed just four, seven and four points over the final three quarters. Zamorye Cox had eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Taylee Rippee had 16 points and six boards, while Lindsay Blakey also added six boards to go along with her 12 points.

Portales will face Robertson (3-0) today at 2 p.m., and will actually host the Cardinals again next Friday night. Prior to the season, Fraze picked Robertson as the favorite to win the 4A state title, and he knows today's game will be quite the early-season challenge.

"(Robertson) will be really tough," Fraze said. "They beat Hope Christian in the regular season last year, and they return everybody. They're long, fast and big."

Elida hammers Hagerman

ELIDA - The Elida girls opened their own tournament with a huge 57-24 win over Hagerman on THursday.

Elida outscored Hagerman 20-3 in the first quarter and kept rolling from there.

"Yeah we had a really good first quarter that really opened it up," Elida head coachJaden Isler said.

Lacy Ferguson and Cambree Bargas led Elida with 15 points each.

Their team will face Tatum tonight at 6 p.m.