Lady Rams close in on 4-4A title after rallying past Goddard in OT

PORTALES - With a chance to all but clinch the District 4-4A title, and a spot in the Class 4A state tournament, Portales High's girls were no match early for the overall quickness of Roswell Goddard.

That all changed after halftime, though, and the Lady Rams pulled off an impressive comeback in posting a 63-56 overtime victory at the Ram Athletic Center.

At worst, Portales could now finish in a tie for the top spot with Goddard (5-3, 2-2 district), but the Lady Rams aren't likely to lose their final games of the season, albeit on the road, to Artesia and Lovington.

Showing the savvy of a veteran team, PHS (6-1, 4-0) calmly worked out of a 33-20 halftime deficit and won despite leading for only 37 seconds in regulation.

"It looked (bad)," Lady Rams coach Wade Fraze acknowledged. "We played a terrible first half. Goddard came to play."

In the end, 6-foot junior post Kylyie Paden led Portales to the victory, combining a personal-best 23 points with 14 rebounds. Junior guard Taris Rippee added 21 points and eight boards.

"The first half we were playing slow," Paden said. "The second half we found our rhythm. We were using our size to our advantage."

PHS also employed a triangle-and-two defense and outscored the Lady Rockets 14-4 in the third frame, including 10 points from Paden. The Lady Rams took their first lead since 2-0 on a basket by senior Mattison Blakey with 4:18 left, making it 42-41.

"I knew we had to do something different," Fraze said of the defensive move. "We hadn't done that all year."

The teams battled back and forth from that point. Goddard had a chance to go in front with 11 seconds remaining, but junior Alexis Sandoval missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity and the teams were tied 50-50 after regulation.

Junior Ambrosia Teasyatwho put the Lady Rockets back in front on two free throws in the first minute of the OT, but Paden's 3-point play on the next trip gave the Lady Rams the lead for good. Portales went 6-for-8 from the line in the final 1:15 to lock it up.

"They made good adjustments (at halftime)," Goddard girls coach Jared Neighbors said. "We had a chance to win it late on a free throw, and I'll take that every time.

"We took some ill-advised shots (with the lead). We're not big at all, and we've got to be able to penetrate and kick out to shooters."

Sandoval led the Lady Rockets with 15 points, while sophomore Ericca Cannon chipped in 13.

Portales 64, Lovington 14 (Tuesday) - At the RAC, Fraze was able to give his starters plenty of down time against the overmatched Lady Wildcats, who failed to score in both the second and third quarters.

"I know they lost a lot (personnel-wise) from last year," he said. "We didn't want to come in overlooking them, and we didn't. We started strong and we were able to rest some kids."

The Lady Rams led 27-5 at the quarter, then outscored Lovington 25-0 over the middle two cantos.

All told, 10 players scored for Portales, led by Rippee and fellow junior guard Teagan Faust with 11 points each, and Paden with 10. Faust's total was a season high.

For the Lady Wildcats (1-6, 0-3), senior Madison Baker accounted for eight points.