Bovina clinches postseason berth

BOVINA - Jose Mata got Bovina's boys off to a good start Friday night, and he helped finish it off at the end as well.

The senior scored a personal-best 35 points and also collected a boatload of rebounds as the Mustangs led wire-to-wire before hanging on late for a 61-56 District 3-2A victory over Vega.

The win clinches the program's first postseason berth since 2016, and also nails down third place in the district chase.

"The boys are pretty resilient," second-year Bovina coach Eric Fierro said. "Vega got us twice in football (including the second round of the Class 2A Division II playoffs), so there might've been some revenge there."

Despite struggling at the line much of the night, Mata came up big down the stretch. He hit four consecutive charity tosses in the final 82 seconds, including two with 2.2 seconds to go to ice it and give Bovina (8-4, 3-2 district) a two-game season sweep.

"We came out strong in the beginning," said Mata, who topped his previous best outing by 10 points. "We just came out and executed, and we played hard throughout the game."

The Mustangs scored the game's first nine points, then pretty much traded runs with the Longhorns (4-9, 1-4) the rest of the way. Their biggest lead was 28-13 midway through the second stanza after Mata converted a breakaway layup.

Vega closed to 58-56 with 40 seconds left, but senior Cole Emery hit a free throw on the next trip down before Mata's two tosses finally put the contest out of reach.

Bovina almost gave the game away at the line. While junior Angel Lara (5-of-6) and Emery (4-of-6) were solid, the rest of the squad went just 12-for-26.

Lara and sophomore Darian DeLaRosa each finished with 10 points for the Mustangs.

Meantime, junior Ryan Grawunder scored Vega's first 16 points - including four 3s - and netted 27 overall before fouling out late. He had five of the Longhorns' eight 3-pointers in the game, compared to one trey for the Mustangs.

Senior Conner Brorman added 13 points for Vega.

"Those kids play dadgummed hard," Fierro said of the Longhorns. "They're young, so they'll be all right next year."

Vega 81, Bovina girls 54 - Playing shorthanded with two regulars out, the Fillies gave a good account of themselves and took the action to district co-leading Vega behind senior guard Ireydi Vela. The left-handed Vela had six of her team's 11 3-pointers and finished with 27 points.

Bovina (5-9, 2-5) led 13-12 at the quarter and stayed close until the up-tempo Lady Longhorns went on a 10-0 run in the latter part of the second canto en route to a 13-point halftime advantage.

While the Fillies cooled off a bit when play resumed, Vega (16-7, 6-1) continued to fire away. The Lady Longhorns finished with 15 3s, with junior Dakota Walker coming off the bench for six of them and 20 points and senior Madalyn Richards and sophomore Kami Drihon adding three apiece.

Richards netted 18 points for Vega, while Drihon and two teammates each had nine.

Senior Krista Saenz added four 3-pointers and 16 points for Bovina, which committed a relatively modest 15 turnovers with the Lady Longhorns pressuring them much of the night.

"Overall, especially that first half, we played pretty well," Fillies coach Scott Hill said. "The kids played with a lot of energy the whole game.

"When they came out in the second half and started knocking down those 3s, it was hard to stay with them."

The Lady Longhorns outscored Bovina 69-41 over the final three quarters, including 27-13 in the second period.

"They hit a bunch of 3-pointers that hurt us a little bit, but we were fortunate enough to respond," Vega coach Randy Henderson said. "The second quarter was obviously the key."

In other girls action on Friday:

Muleshoe 51, Lamesa 37 - The homestanding Lady Mules led 11-8 at the quarter and steadily pulled away, clinching third place in District 3-3A and a playoff berth with the win.

Junior Natalie Ambriz paced Muleshoe (12-12, 7-4) with 24 points, with juniors Kayla Soto and KyLee Villa adding nine and eight, respectively. For the Lady Tornadoes (12-12, 4-6), senior Emma Garcia posted 13 points.

In other boys games:

Farwell 65, Boys Ranch 34 - The Steers (21-2, 4-1) kept pace with idle Olton (20-1, 5-0) in the District 3-2A race, blowing out the visiting Roughriders with a 23-6 blitz in the final stanza.

Farwell rode a balanced attack, led by seniors Jonathan Mora with 17 points and Leefe Actkinson with 10. Steers coach Shane Perkins, though, said the Roughriders (0-5, 0-5) played better than in the earlier meeting, which was just their second game in a covid-plagued campaign.

"I knew they'd be a better team," he said. "They're better-conditioned and they've got a few more games under their belt."

Junior Jayden Slater was Boys Ranch's top scorer with 10 points.

Lamesa 62, Muleshoe 47 - At Muleshoe, the Golden Tornadoes (12-5, 5-2 District 3-3A) erased an eight-point deficit by outscoring the shorthanded Mules by 23 points in the final stanza.

Muleshoe (5-10, 2-6) built a 10-point halftime lead and was in front much of the way. The Mules were without juniors Brennen Davis (concussion protocols) and Zach Hasley (ankle).