Lady Rams off to 2-0 district start

PORTALES - Though Portales' Friday win over Artesia never felt in doubt, it wasn't hard to pinpoint exactly where the wheels fell off of the Bulldog bus.

Starting post Kaylee Wagner picked up her fourth foul with 4:43 left, starting forward Cora Cox picked up her fourth a minute later and starting guard Alyssa Lieb left the game with an apparent concussion from incidental contact on a drive.

The Rams (4-0, 2-0 district) immediately followed with a 10-0 run en route to a 44-30 District 4-4A victory, and felt fortunate after the game to come away with the W.

"I thought Artesia played well," Portales coach Wade Fraze said. "They played hard. They ran a great triangle and 2 on Taris (Rippee) and Teagan (Faust).

"I didn't think we played well, and the girls didn't think we played well for about two and a half quarters."

Artesia (2-5, 1-1), to its credit, had fought back after an early 9-1 deficit to tie the game twice and had a go-ahead bucket wiped out early in the third on a borderline loose ball foul.

Artesia coach Jeff Houghtaling quickly ran out of options in the third between the foul trouble and the sudden injury to Lieb, who stood up from the blow but soon lost her balance and was fortunately caught by a teammate as she went back to the ground.

He kept Wagner in the game because he didn't have many options left, and she fouled out early in the fourth on a frustration foul.

"Foul trouble hurt us," said Houghtaling, who was on balance pleased with his team's effort. "We don't have a lot of offensive options if we're without our two tallest girls."

Artesia shot 11-of-44 on the night, and over a 10-minute stretch missed 12 consecutive field goal attempts as Portales built its lead.

The Rams, who never trailed, put the game on ice with a four-point possession early in the fourth by guard Riley Shillings.

The 5-foot-2 Shillings had a running hook shot blocked by Wagner, and was thrown to the ground in a struggle with Wagner for the loose ball. Wagner fouled out on the intentional foul call. Shillings hit both free throws and, without Wagner on defense, scored on a similar running hook to give Portales its biggest lead at 39-21.

Shillings, who scored all nine of her points in the second half, said the team usually succeeds because they don't lose faith in each other during difficult stretches.

"We've all grown up together," Shillings said. "We all know each other. We all love each other, and there's no drama."

Kinzie Davis had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead Portales, which was set for a non-district battle Saturday night against Hobbs.

Portales shot 16-of-47 on the night, including 3-of-16 from beyond the arc.

"We rushed shots from the outside," Fraze said. "From the inside, we missed shots we normally make."

Koda Beltran had a game-high 12 points and accounted for all four of Artesia's 3-pointers with one in each period.

Portales 51, Roswell Goddard 43 (Tuesday) - The Lady Rams overcame a seven-point halftime deficit in their district opener at Roswell, breaking open a tie game by outscoring the previously unbeaten Lady Rockets 21-13 in the final period.

Rippee led PHS with 16 points, while junior post Kylyie Paden had 14 and Shillings 10. They combined for 30 of the team's 36 points in the second half, with Shillings getting all of hers after the intermission, including three 3-pointers.

"We didn't play very good in the first half, but the girls responded well," Fraze said. "Goddard has a real good team."

Paden had nine rebounds and five steals and senior Kinzie Davis grabbed eight rebounds for the Lady Rams. Sophomore Daci Smith scored 14 points, including three 3s and 11 points in the first half, to pace Goddard (5-1, 0-1).