Rams drop St. Mike's Shootout finale to Silver

SANTA FE — Wounded and weary, Portales would like to make the St. Mike's Shootout a tournament to forget.

The boys basketball team struggled once again on Saturday, falling to Silver, 67-48.

"I thought our kids showed up ready to play, but we just ran out of gas in the end," Rams coach Rickie McBroom said. "We've had a bunch of kids sick on this whole trip - both varsity and JV, but I thought we fought hard and Silver is a tough team."

Silver (12-4) took control early, building a seven-point lead at half. Portales (9-7) struggled shooting the ball, although McBroom felt that it was more a product of fatigue, as he went on to explain that his team took a bunch of good shots all night long.

In the end, the Rams went 15-of-42 (35 percent) from the field, and just 6-of-23 (26 percent) from downtown. Kellan Hightower led the way with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting.

Despite the shortcomings, there were some positives for McBroom to take out of the trip, as Portales returns home next Friday to open up district play against Moriarty.

"No. 1 is that we discovered we can play man defense against some good people," McBroom said. "You look at what we did against St. Mike's (on Friday night) and you look at most of this game against a really good Silver team.

"We held Silver in check for three quarters, I thought, but then they got a few good shots in the fourth. Playing a team like that will certainly help us when we get to Albuquerque (for state)."