Portales girls stay perfect in district

PORTALES — Things came pretty easily for a long time for Portales High’s girls in Friday night’s District 4-4A matchup against Roswell Goddard at the Ram Athletic Center.

PHS came out playing aggressive defense and flustered the Lady Rockets with fullcourt pressure, taking a 16-2 lead late in the first quarter.

Then Goddard decided to return the favor. Trailing 45-25 with three minutes left in the third frame, the Lady Rockets gave Portales some of its own medicine.

In a wild game which saw the Lady Rams lose starting guards Taris Rippee and Riley Shillings to fouls, sophomore Teagan Faust took over down the stretch and helped restore order as Portales nailed down a 64-57 win.

Rippee fouled out with just under five minutes left, and Shillings joined her about a minute later. That left most of the ballhandling duties to Faust, and she responded with 10 of her 13 points in the final stanza and some big plays down the stretch.

“Teagan showed a lot of leadership there,” Lady Rams coach Wade Fraze said. “We’ve got some of our bigger kids out there trying to help out. That’s what good teams do.”

The Lady Rams (17-6, 3-0 district) were slated to face Lovington (12-9, 3-0) in a Saturday night makeup game at the RAC with first place in the district on the line.

Goddard (18-6, 1-3) scored the first 10 points of the final quarter to get within six, but didn’t get any closer until a 3-pointer by sophomore Daci Smith made it 62-57 with 22 seconds left. Lady Rams junior Kinzie Davis then added two free throws to seal the deal.

Faust also finished with a team-high four assists.

“I felt a little nervous,” she said of essentially taking the lead role against Goddard’s press. “(Rippee and Shillings) are usually the ones handling the ball, and it was a little nerve-racking.

“I knew I just had to step up as the only guard out there.”

Shillings knocked down four first-half 3-pointers, including two back-to-back in the opening stanza to help get the Lady Rams off to their quick start. She finished with 16 points, while Rippee and sophomore Kylyie Paden each added nine.

“That’s been there all year,” Fraze said of Shillings’ early offensive explosion. “Tonight it kind of came together for her, and hopefully she can continue to do that.”

Goddard forced the Lady Rams into 24 turnovers, including 18 in the second half and 11 in the fourth period alone.

“It’s something we should’ve been able to handle and have handled in the past,” Fraze said of the Lady Rockets’ pressure. “We just didn’t handle it tonight.”

Sophomore guard Alexis Sandoval was Goddard’s lone double-figure scorer with 12 points, but six others finished between six and eight.

While Portales was an efficient 19-of-27 from the foul line, the Lady Rockets stayed in the game in part by going 25-for-37 on free throws. The teams combined for 31 charity tosses in the fourth quarter alone.