Melrose teams roll into semifinals

CAPITAN – Melrose’s boys and girls easily advanced into semifinal play on Thursday in Capitan’s Smoky Bear Invitational tournament.

Both teams beat Reserve, the boys cruising to an 84-21 win while the girls defeated the Lady Mountaineers 51-27.

The Buffaloes (7-0), ranked fourth in Class 1A by MaxPreps, and Lady Buffs (6-1), ranked No. 5, were slated to take on Eunice in the semifinal round on Friday, with finals scheduled for Saturday.

In boys action, the Buffs got scoring from all 10 players, including five in double digits, and rolled out to a 30-7 lead at the quarter. Senior Michael Cardonita and juniors Brayden Eldridge and Josiah Roybal each had 13 points while juniors Dathan Yeary and Cy Draper scored 12 apiece.

The Mountaineers (2-7) were paced by sophomore Clayton Farris with six points.

The Lady Buffs opened a 20-3 lead at the quarter and kept the margin comfortable after that against the Lady Mountaineers (3-2). Seniors Graci Odom and Karlee Elliott and sophomore Skyla Wicker all had 10 points for Melrose.

Senior Abigail Nicolds led Mountainair with 12 points, and sophomore Leandra Estrada had nine.

In Wednesday action:

Farwell boys win, girls lose – Farwell’s boys put four players in double digits and rolled to a 73-40 victory at Tulia.

Junior Ryder McElroy scored a personal-best 21 points for Farwell (8-6), which outscored the Hornets (7-8) by at least seven points in every quarter. Sophomore Braddock Foster added 16 points, sophomore Hudson Agee scored 13 and senior Corey Stancell chipped in 10 for the Steers.

Tulia was paced by 13 points from sophomore Logan Becerra.

Meantime, the Lady Blue played Texas Class 5A No. 8 Amarillo Tascosa close for a half at Amarillo, but the Lady Rebels (11-4) hung a 23-5 blitz on them in the third stanza and posted a 74-45 victory.

Farwell (14-3), ranked fifth in Class 2A by MaxPreps, is 14-0 against Class 3A teams and below, including 8-0 versus 3A. The Lady Blue’s other two losses were to Class 4A No. 12 Canyon (48-41) and Class 4A No. 4 Seminole (79-50).

Four players reached double digits for Tascosa – seniors Aniyah Brackens (18) and Avery Carter (17), and junior Tryssa Dowd and sophomore Devaeh Johnson (14 apiece).

Junior Makylee Baldwin scored 12 points for Farwell, which trailed just 35-29 at the half.

On Tuesday:

Clayton takes two at Grady – Senior Jonoven Hidalgo and sophomore Christopher Herrera each scored 14 points to lift Clayton’s boys past the homestanding Bronchos 59-47.

Hidalgo scored nine of his points in a 23-point second stanza that lifted the Yellowjackets (6-5) to a 34-18 advantage at halftime. He added a pair of 3-pointers and eight of his points after the intermission.

Junior Taylor Crist tallied 10 points for Clayton. Grady (4-4) got 29 points from senior Zane Rush, including 21 in the second half.

In the girls’ matchup, the Lady Yellowjackets rolled to a 31-12 halftime lead and went on to post a 53-31 victory.

Three players did all the scoring for Clayton (6-3), and all reached double figures – senior Emersen Beiland with 24 points, senior Angelina Herrera with 18 and senior Annibel Vigil with 11. Top scorer for Grady (5-4) was junior Juanita Ramirez with 14 points.