Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Texico senior Kaya New works for a shot as Portales junior Myleigh Banda defends in Tuesday's girls contest at the RAC. The Lady Rams posted a 58-27 triumph.
TUCUMCARI – Portales High's girls saw a 13-point halftime lead cut to seven midway through the third quarter, but the Lady Rams took off from there to hand Class 3A fifth-ranked Tucumcari a 48-27 loss on Thursday night.
Junior guard Angel Ornelas ignited a 15-3 PHS run with a pair of free throws and junior guard Myleigh Banda added three field goals during the stretch as the Lady Rams built their advantage to 41-22 early in the final segment.
Banda finished with 19 points and eight rebounds for Portales (14-4), ranked fourth in Class 4A by MaxPreps. Ornelas added 11 points as the Lady Rams won their sixth in a row and matched their win total from 2022-23 (14-15).
Senior guard Audrey Paden and junior post Evannie Fulfer flirted a bit with triple-doubles. Paden collected eight points, 10 rebounds and nine steals and Fulfer compiled nine points, seven caroms and seven steals.
"It was a really physical game; we were on the floor a lot of the night," PHS girls coach Wade Fraze said. "But it was good for us because we have to learn to play in games like that."
The Lady Rattlers (12-2), who saw a nine-game winning streak come to an end, got 13 points from junior guard Caylee Benavidez.
Portales' next outing is on Friday night against Clovis High at The Rock.
Portales 58, Texico 27 (Tuesday) – PHS trailed 4-0 early, but by halftime built a 12-point advantage and steadily pulled away from there.
Banda again led the way for the Lady Rams, funneling in 19 points to go with five assists. She had nine points during a 21-point second quarter that gave Portales some breathing room.
Fulfer added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore center Skyler Massey combined eight points, five rebounds and four steals. Senior guard Audrey Paden did not score, but delivered six assists and four steals.
"I thought it was a good team effort," Fraze said. "I thought it was probably Skyler's best all-around game of the year.
"I told the girls that they're a team. Different people can step up, which makes it hard to key on any one player."
Leading scorers for the Lady Wolverines (5-10) were senior forward Sonia Ortiz with three 3-pointers for nine points and junior center Adalyn Autrey with eight.
