Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
LITTLEFIELD, Texas — For the first time in school history, the Portales High boys basketball team will play for a Wildcat Classic title.
The Rams knocked off the Levelland Lobos (4-3) on Friday afternoon, 66-52, to advance to the Wildcat Classic championship game.
"It means a lot, (especially) compared to where we were a week ago," Rams coach Rickie McBroom said. "(My players) are doing an excellent job of what we want them to do."
The Rams led 19-7 after the first quarter, but then yielded 25 points in the second, to carry just a one-point lead into the half. According to McBroom, Levelland's top scorer, Jakeevian Ford, was someone that his Rams keyed-on in the first quarter, as they held him scoreless.
However, the Lobos tried to employ a different strategy in the second quarter, taking Ford out of the game and trying to spread the ball around more evenly. However, that strategy managed to work for just the second quarter only.
Portales (6-3) allowed just 20 points in the second half, including nine in the third period. "(In the first quarter) we used a chase and a zone on (Ford), but then they took him out and started focusing on another kid," McBroom said. "After half, we started chasing the other kid and it worked out well for us."
Offensively, the Rams scored between 14-19 points each quarter, and had five players with at least five points apiece. Portales shot 47 percent from the field and made 9-of-22 (40 percent) 3-point attempts.
With the win, Portales will play the winner of Friday's late game between Littlefield and Lamesa. No matter who the Rams play for the championship at 6:30 p.m. MT tonight, McBroom knows it will be a fight one way or another.
"Lamesa, I know this, they press you for 32 minutes," McBroom explained. "They'll go baseline-to-baseline with you, and if it's them, we'll have to handle that. As for Littlefield, they always have big, strong kids."
Girls top Friona
The girls team flipped the script on Friday, after allowing 71 points on Thursday in the Wildcat Classic. On Friday morning, the Ram defense became much stingier in a 59-34 loser's bracket semifinal victory over the Friona Chieftans.
"Well, we didn't give up 10 3-pointers," Portales coach Wade Fraze, alluding to Thursday's loss against Stratford, said. "We did a better job of the little things, like defense and boxing out. Just a better team effort today."
Portales (10-2) jumped on Friona (4-7) right from the start. The Rams twice allowed just five points in a quarter on Friday, as they carried a 13-5 lead into the second period, and 36-18 by halftime.
For Fraze, better communication and defensive rotations was key for his Rams, as he went on to say that Friona was essentially limited to about one shot per possession, thanks to a strong Portales rebounding effort.
In fact, Sarah Lovato, one of the shortest Rams on the team, led Portales with eight boards on the day. However, it was the shooting prowess of Zamorye Cox that really stood out.
Cox scored 27 points, which followed a 24-point effort against Stratford.
"It was not any one thing (today)," Fraze explained. "She is very capable of scoring, but she is also very capable of creating for her teammates. When she creates shots for them, it opens things up for her offensively."
With the win, the Rams will play today in the Consolation championship game at 11 a.m. MST. Portales will face Andrews, whom Fraze and company scouted on Friday afternoon.
"We scouted them for a half," Fraze said. "They're pretty athletic and long, and they have multiple kids who can play multiple positions."
