Buffs, Lady Buffs post championships in Reserve tourney

RESERVE – Melrose’s basketball teams breezed through Reserve’s Mountaineer Invitational virtually unchallenged, claiming championships on Saturday night against their District 6-1A rivals as the boys beat Logan 71-50 while the girls dominated their Lady Longhorns counterparts 67-28.

The Buffaloes (12-3), ranked third in Class 1A by MaxPreps, put three players in double figures, led by junior Michael Cardonita with 19 points. Sophomore Cy Draper followed close behind with 18, while sophomore Josiah Roybal added 13.

Melrose extended an 18-8 first-quarter advantage to 21 points by halftime and played the Longhorns (11-5), ranked fourth in 1A, on even terms the rest of the way. Cardonita, sophomore Brayden Eldridge and freshman Jaxon Odom represented the Buffs on the all-tournament team.

Freshman Mason Wallin topped Logan with 12 points, and sophomore Diego Sanchez added eight.

The Lady Buffs (17-1), No. 1 in 1A, opened a 15-2 lead at the quarter and stayed in command the rest of the way. Nine Melrose players scored, led by seniors Isabelle Sena and Paityn Nicholson with 15 and 14, respectively, and junior Graci Odom with 13.

Sena, Odom and senior Sorrell Allen made the all-tourney squad for Melrose. Top scorer for the Lady Longhorns (12-7) was junior Natalie Bongers with 10 points.

Grady girls roll past Des Moines – Junior Shayla White had four 3-pointers and 25 points, and the Lady Bronchos easily posted a season scoring high in a 77-45 rout of the Lady Demons at Grady. Their previous high came in a 54-44 victory over the Portales junior varsity on Dec. 13.

White connected for three 3s and 11 points in the opening stanza to help get her team off to a 21-10 start. Sophomore Juanita Ramirez added 21 points and junior December Garza 13 for the Lady Bronchos (7-5), who placed nine players in the scoring column.

High scorers for Des Moines were senior Addie Owensby with 13 points and freshman Holly Ward with 12.

In the boys matchup, Des Moines withstood a fourth-quarter comeback bid by the Bronchos to register a 62-53 victory.

The Demons (8-6) had a 22-point lead going into the final stanza before Grady (4-7) outscored them 19-6.

Juniors Caleb Sumpter (21), Nash Trujillo (13) and Noah Johnson (11) carried Des Moines to victory. Trujillo and Johnson each had three 3s for the Demons, while Sumpter scored eight of his points during the team’s 21-6 domination of the second period.

Junior Zane Rush tallied 18 points and sophomore Deakin Ragland 16 for the Bronchos, each scoring 12 over the final two stanzas.

The games were the third in three days for Grady squads.