Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
FARWELL – Portales High’s boys faced an interesting challenge on Saturday night in the finals of the Farwell Invitational.
The Rams improved to 3-0 for the season with a 73-58 win over Hale Center in Friday’s semifinal, and they were slated to take on defending Class 1A champion Fort Sumner for the title. The Foxes (2-0) dismissed Silverton 52-43 in the late semifinal.
In the girls’ division, Farwell and Littlefield notched semifinal wins and were to play in Saturday’s title tilt.
Five players accounted for all but two points for PHS, led by 6-foot-4 sophomore Carson Pfaffenberger with 21 points and junior guard Joel Lujan with 18 points. Junior guard Paxton Culpepper added 12 points and juniors Jase Hightower and Xavier Tarpeh tallied 10 apiece.
In Thursday’s quarterfinal victory over Littlefield, those five scored all of the Rams’ points in a 67-65 win over the previously unbeaten Wildcats.
PHS trailed 50-48 entering the final period, but outscored the Owls 25-8 with Pfaffenberger, who also had 17 rebounds, scoring nine points and Hightower adding seven. Culpepper had eight assists and Hightower added seven.
For the Owls (4-3), Carter Gonzales had 15 points, Cade Sierra 13 Lionel Martinez 12. Hale Center had nine 3-pointers, including three by Sierra.
In other boys contests on Friday:
Farwell wins twice – Junior Ryder McElroy scored 16 points and sophomore Braddock Foster had 11, and the Steers made a quick turnaround from a three-point loss late Thursday to Hale Center with an early-morning win over Muleshoe. McElroy and Foster each had three of the team’s 11 3s.
Farwell led by just four points at halftime, but outscored the Mules 27-3 in the third stanza. Junior Aaron Morales tallied 10 points for Muleshoe (2-4).
The Steers came back to post a 52-28 win over Sundown (0-6) and advance to Saturday’s fifth-place contest against Littlefield. McElroy delivered 12 points and Cesar Snyder 10 for Farwell, while the Roughnecks (0-7) got five points each from Carson Boggs and Carson Holson.
Littlefield 77, Texico 43 – After suffering their first loss of the season in the opening round against Portales, the Wildcats (10-1) bolted to a 21-4 lead at the quarter against the Wolverines.
Junior Kam McCarty posted 17 points for Littlefield, while junior Ryan Williams (13), freshman Jayden Barrio (12) and senior Omar Martinez (12) also reached double digits. Those four combined for 10 3-point baskets.
Texico (2-3) was led by senior Cade Figg with three 3s and 15 points, while senior Erik Davalos tallied nine points.
Also on Friday, Silverton started the day with an early-morning 66-58 win over Lockney to advance to the winners bracket semifinals.
In Friday girls action:
Farwell 77, Fort Sumner 20 – The Lady Blue posted their second consecutive lopsided win to reach the finals as junior Makylee Baldwin had 15 points, junior Bella Jaime 14, senior Kennedi Richey 13 and senior Chloee Whitten 11.
Farwell (11-2) led the Vixens 18-2 at the quarter and 43-7 at halftime. High scorer for Fort Sumner (1-1) was senior Kristen Moyer with eight points.
Portales 54, Littlefield 48 – The Lady Rams (1-1) erased a nine-point halftime deficit to take a four-point advantage, but they weren’t able to hold off the Lady Wildcats (8-3).
Junior Arianna Castillo led three Littlefield players in double digits with 17 points, while senior Kennadi Hanlin added 14 and senior Arianna Cruz chipped in three 3s and 11 points.
Juniors Myleigh Banda, Evannie Fulfer and Angel Ornelas finished with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively, but all were plagued by foul problems. Ornelas added nine rebounds and five assists for PHS, while senior Audrey Paden had four assists and five steals and senior Brenna Jewell also had nine caroms.
Muleshoe 49, Texico 42 – In consolation play, the Lady Mules led most of the way, but didn’t put it out of reach until the final 90 seconds when junior Aubrey Granados converted two free throws and a breakaway layup.
Granados and senior Rylie Woodard finished with 10 points apiece for Muleshoe (4-11). Junior Adalyn Autrey had 10 points for Texico (1-4), and senior Kaya New added eight.
In another consolation bracket game on Friday, Silverton defeated the Canyon junior varsity 41-35.
