Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales sophomore Audrey Paden goes hard to the rack against Artesia sophomore Kymber Beltrain during the Lady Rams' 58-37 victory in Tuesday's District 4-4A girls clash at the RAC.
PORTALES - Portales High's girls are off to a solid start in District 4-4A action.
The Lady Rams (14-5) improved to 2-0 in district play on Tuesday night with a relatively comfortable 58-37 victory over Artesia at the Ram Athletic Center.
Portales, which was coming off a last-second 55-53 loss in overtime on Saturday at Clovis, led 19-10 at the quarter and never allowed the Lady Bulldogs (10-11, 1-1) to get back into it.
"I thought that was four really solid quarters for us," Lady Rams coach Wade Fraze said. "I thought our kids did a good job defensively on all their players."
Senior post Kylyie Paden led PHS with 20 points, while senior guards Taris Rippee and Teagan Faust chipped in 11 apiece. Eight players scored for Portales, and six combined to produce a solid 11-for-14 night from the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Lorin Wagner did most of the damage for Artesia, finishing with 17 points.
Artesia 66, Portales boys 48 - The second half of Tuesday's doubleheader at the RAC didn't go as well for the home team.
Junior guard Nick Sanchez led four players in double figures for Artesia (12-9, 2-0) with 21 points. He went 5-for-6 from the free throw line and scored nine points in the final period, helping the Bulldogs stretch out their lead down the stretch.
The Rams tried to slow Sanchez down with a box-and-one defense, featuring either senior Alex Garcia or junior Eli Gomez on him. Both fouled out in the final stanza.
"We did a pretty good job on him with the combination of Alex Garcia and Eli Gomez," Rams coach Randy McBroom said. "They both fouled out, and when that happened (Artesia) pulled us out of our defense."
Senior Jake Barrera finished with 13 points for Artesia, including three of the Bulldogs' six 3-pointers in the game. Juniors Cameron Thorp and Paxson Deans each added 10 points.
Senior guard Kaden Hightower led the Rams (9-10, 0-2) with 12 points, while senior forward Quadale Brown and junior guard Davian Lucero each had 10.
The Rams were without junior center Emmanuel Diahn, who sustained a knee injury in Friday's district-opening loss at Roswell Goddard. Diahn is Portales' leading rebounder and second-leading scorer.
"We hope to get him back before the district tournament (scheduled for Feb. 22-25)," McBroom said.
Both PHS squads were slated to face Lovington at the RAC on Friday night. Portales is home twice again this week, hosting Goddard in district tilts on Friday night and Texico in a make-up non-district twin bill on Saturday.
