Rams, Lady Rams each win twice at Pojoaque

POJOAQUE – After the first day of Pojoaque’s tournament was postponed due to snow, Portales High’s basketball teams each came back to win twice on Friday.

The Rams improved to 6-0, topping the host Elks 57-55 before blowing out Dulce 84-44, while the Lady Rams won easily over Crownpoint 57-32 and Santa Fe Capital 67-29 to raise their mark to 4-1.

The Rams were slated to close out the event on Saturday against Monte del Sol while the Lady Rams took on Dulce.

Boys – Portales fell behind Pojoaque early and rallied to pull out the game late.

Junior forward Paxton Culpepper had a pair of 3-pointers and netted 16 of his 18 points in the second half for the Rams, while junior Joel Lujan had 11 points, sophomore Carson Pfaffenberger nine and junior Xavier Tarpeh eight. For the Elks (4-3), junior Nick Manzanares scored 12 points and sophomore Josiah Salazar added 10.

Against Dulce (3-3), the Rams rolled to a 46-19 halftime lead and cruised as Pfaffenberger scored 10 of his 12 points in the opening frame, while Lujan and Tarpeh each finished with 11 points.

Girls – The Lady Rams allowed more than nine points in a quarter only once all day in cruising to wins over Crownpoint (4-3) and Capital (2-5).

Against the Lady Eagles, junior Evannie Fulfer posted 14 points and PHS pulled away from a two-point lead by outscoring the Lady Eagles 33-10 in the second half. Sophomore Skyler Massey added 11 points – all in the fourth quarter – while junior Myleigh Banda tallied eight of her 10 in the second half.

Junior Arabela Balicat paced Crownpoint with nine.

PHS had another strong second half against Capital, outscoring the Lady Jaguars 38-14 to win going away. Senior Audrey Paden led four Lady Rams in double figures with 14 points, while Fulfer posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, senior Brenna Jewell chipped in 12 points and junior Myleigh Banda had 11 tallies.

For Capital, Annica Montoya finished with a game-high 18 points.

PHS squads return to action on Tuesday with 5:30 (girls) and 7 p.m. (boys) games at Lubbock Christian.