Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales guard Kellan Hightower splits a pair of Lubbock Christian defenders on a third-quarter transition opportunity in Saturday's Portales Shootout game. Hightower had 12 points in Portales' 62-55 win.
PORTALES - Lubbock Christian had plenty of star power in Saturday night's finale of the Portales Shootout. The host Rams had plenty of balance.
The latter won out, as the Rams pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Eagles 62-55 and grab a clean sweep in their three Shootout contests.
Kellan Hightower scored 12 to lead three in double figures for the Rams (10-5), who won their third-straight and sixth in seven games heading into Tuesday's home contest against Trinity Christian.
Rico Diaz had 11 and Julian Urioste 10 for the Rams, who had three others score at least six. The Eagles, meanwhile, got 24 from Alex Lack and 21 from Dyllin Dominguez but no more than three from anyone else.
"Our press was effective in the first quarter, and the way we play we're going to have different players score," Portales coach Rickie McBroom said. "We knew how good those guys were and that they were going to get their points."
After falling behind 21-13 early, the Eagles (16-7) drew to within two at the half. All they got in the third, however, were a trio of Lack baskets and a pair of free throws while the Rams had six different players score - with the result a 46-36 lead entering the fourth.
"The biggest challenge we had was defensively keeping them out of the paint," McBroom said. "Second quarter, they were able to get inside against our man defense. We made an adjustment to zone in the third quarter. That hurt them, because they couldn't get into the paint."
The balance was also seen from beyond the arc, with six players accounting for the Rams' 10 3-pointers. Four players - Hightower, Diaz, Urioste and Trevor Whiting - hit two 3-pointers for Portales, and two others hit one.
"We've improved tremendously to this point," McBroom said of Portales' 3-point shooting. "It's nice when you have multiple people out there (who are perimeter threats). Trevor Whiting gave us a huge lift."
Lack never had fewer than five in any quarter, while Dominguez scored 11 in the fourth.
The Rams travel to Moriarty Saturday.
