Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
PORTALES — The Rams couldn’t hang on in regulation to beat Goddard for their third-straight win, but overtime proved to be what they needed to improve to 3-2 on the year. Tyrese Dawson, Jase Wallace, Braden Bridges and Rico Diaz all scored in double figures on the night, with each player notching at least 14 points apiece.
Goddard (4-5) trailed Portales (3-2), 63-60 in the closing seconds. The Rockets’ Jonah Chavez, however, nailed a corner 3-pointer to send the game into overtime. But, Portales proved to be too strong in the extra session, building a seven point lead late.
“We told our kids that we had been successful with our five-out offense when Goddard stayed in man (defense),” Rams coach Rickie McBroom explained. “Goddard stayed with man and then we got one stop at a time on defense. The thing that impressed me most is that we out-rebounded them 37-34.”
Coming into the game, McBroom had concerns over facing the Rockets and their big men, led by Dalin Stanford (6-foot-5) and Derek Carrica (6-4). In the early going, Stanford and Carrica found the basket, as a jumper from Carrica and a tip-in from Stanford made it a 4-0 game after four minutes.
The Rams, however, soon found their groove, after treys by Dawson and Bridges. Late layups by Wallace and Diaz put the Rams ahead at the end of the first quarter, 10-9. Portales soon increased its lead to 17-11, and in the process, it showed its rebounding prowess against a larger team.
Goddard wound up making nine 3-pointers, but being out-rebounded by a smaller team proved to be too much. For Portales, the win makes back-to-back games in which it defeated a strong rebounding team, and in this case, a 5A program with a tough schedule.
The Rams will now cross over the border into Texas this Friday night, to take on the Muleshoe Mules (1-2). For McBroom, Friday’s game is another challenge unto itself, as the style of Texas basketball tends to be dramatically different from that of New Mexico.
“It’s always tough when you go into Texas, because it’s a much more physical game and the referees call it more physical,” McBroom said. “A lot of Texas teams play man-to-man, and we like when teams play us that way with our five-out offense.”
