Texico back in 3A girls title game with rout of Clayton

RIO RANCHO — Three out of four was a pretty nice place for the Texico Wolverines to be Thursday. They’re hoping they can say the same thing Friday.

Junior guard Baylee Sours scored 27 points, and the Texico Wolverines are back in the Class 3A finals with a 63-42 victory over Clayton Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center.

Maryelle Dickerman added 18 for Texico (25-4), which led for the final 29:32 and by as many as 22 points in its fourth and final matchup of the season with the Yellowjackets. Texico took three of the four, with the only blemish a 51-48 District 5-3A title game loss in a game nothing like the 51-48 win Clayton posted in the District 5-3A title game nearly two weeks prior.

“We’ve started out slow against them every time we played them,” Texico coach Richard Luscombe said. “It was important to start well early. I thought we did an excellent job of defending them.”

Texico will be going for its third 4A title in four years, and the 11th title in school history, when it takes the court at 1:30 p.m. today against defending 3A champ Tohatchi. The Cougars topped Tularosa 78-43 in Thursday’s other semifinal.

The Wolverines have won 19 of their last 20, with the only loss coming to Clayton in the District 5-3A title game, and are appearing in their fourth title game in five years.

Senior Jasmine Davalos, with eight points, was the only other Texico player to notch more than four. But Texico didn’t need balanced scoring thanks to the outpouring from Sours and Dickerman, who combined to go 17-of-22 from the field and outscore the Demons (19-11) on their own.

Keegan Geary had 10 points to lead the Yellowjackets, who struggled with 13-of-60 shooting on the day.

Luscombe knew both Sours and Dickerman were capable of those efforts, given prior experience, but that didn’t mean the performances were expected.

“She’s been struggling the last few games,” Luscombe said of Sours, Texico’s leading scorer and rebounder. “The thing that she did differently was she didn’t allow their pressure to get to her. Once she got through that first burst (of defenders), she was able to make good decisions. She did a good job getting everybody involved.”

Regarding Dickerman, an ankle injury she suffered in Tuesday’s win against Pecos gave Texico little reason for optimism.

“We really didn’t know if she’d be able to play,” Luscombe said. “We went through a light practice yesterday. She just loosened it up and watched and got treatments. But she didn’t sit a lot today.”

Luscombe has no concerns about Dickerman heading into Friday.

That’s not the case, however, with Tohatchi. Texico and Tohatchi didn’t play each other this season, but both teams played in December’s Citizens Bank Tournament at Texico, and Luscombe watched the Cougars play twice during the tournament.

“I watched them play Dulce and Tularosa,” Luscombe said. “Boy, they’re a tough matchup. They shoot the ball so well. They want it as fast as they can get it. If you control the tempo, it takes part of what they want to do away.”