Lady Buffs post championship in Capitan tourney

CAPITAN – Eighth-grader Braylan Morgan scored 16 points and Melrose cruised to the girls team championship in Capitan’s Smokey Bear tournament on Saturday with a 50-39 victory over Eunice.

Sophomore Shylynn Downey added 10 points and senior Chantzee Elliott nine for the Lady Buffs (7-2), who erased a three-point deficit and took control with a 16-8 surge in the second quarter. Junior Peyton Williams had 13 points and seniors Aleena Rodriguez and MaKenna McBee 11 each for the Lady Cardinals (5-3).

Melrose advanced to the finals with wins over Cloudcroft 60-22 on Thursday and Dexter 53-18 on Friday. Elliott posted a personal-best 17 points in Thursday’s tilt, while freshman Nova Rollerson led the Lady Bears (5-7) with five points.

Morgan and junior Skyla Wicker had 11 points each in the Lady Buffs’ domination of Dexter. Eighth-grader Melody Duran paced the Lady Demons (5-5) with 10 points.

In other girls tourney action over the weekend:

Texico falls to Tohatchi in finals – In Texico’s Citizens Bank tournament, Tohatchi (5-3) held the Lady Wolverines to seven second-half points in wresting the championship.

Junior Shylynn Johnson had 10 points for the Lady Cougars, while junior Macy Cline led all scorers with 11 for Texico. Cline and senior Desiree Holman represented the Lady Wolverines on the all-tourney squad.

Texico (5-3) had a relatively easy path to the finals, blitzing Tularosa 52-14 in Thursday’s quarterfinals and topped Magdalena 45-27 in the semifinals on Friday.

Cline poured in 24 points and juniors Averi McKelvain and Kailie Wieland added eight apiece in the rout of Tularosa (2-7), which got four points from senior Kadence Kowatch. On Friday, the Lady Wolverines rode a 14-5 first quarter to victory while handing Magdalena (9-1), ranked fourth in Class 1A, its first setback of the campaign.

Cline posted 11 points and McKelvain 10 for Texico. Senior Jorianne Mirabal led the Lady Steers with eight points.

Grady falls to To’hajiilee – Playing its third game in three days, the Lady Bronchos absorbed a 55-44 setback at home to the Lady Warriors (5-3) on Saturday.

Freshman Tatum Wilson scored 18 points while sophomore Victoria Apachito and freshman Khloe Spencer added 11 each for To’hajiilee. Trailing by a point, the Lady Warriors outscored Grady 30-18 over the middle two stanzas to take control.

Sophomore Sasha Northcutt knocked in 20 points while senior Juanita Ramirez and junior Jaebri Scott both had 10 for the Lady Bronchos (2-7).

Grady dropped a 38-26 decision at Clayton on Thursday before losing a heartbreaker 37-36 at Hagerman on Friday.

Senior Courtney Rometski netted eight of her 12 points in the first quarter to help the Lady Yellowjackets (4-6) win Thursday’s clash. Ramirez topped the Lady Bronchos in that one with 10 points.

At Hagerman, the Lady Bobcats (5-4) overcame an 11-point halftime deficit, outscoring Grady 22-10 over the final two stanzas for the narrow win. Senior Ximena Chacon and freshman Brylee Rodriguez notched 10 points apiece for Hagerman, while Northcutt was Grady’s top scorer with 11.

Dora absorbs pair of setbacks – The Lady Coyotes played a pair of teams with a combined 18-2 record in the Fort Sumner Shootout and dropped games to Class 1A No. 1 Roy/Mosquero 64-21 on Friday and Class 2A No. 5 Mescalero 52-38 on Saturday.

In the Friday tilt, the Blue (10-0) rode a 27-point first quarter to victory, getting a combined 42 points from seniors Sylviana Baca (20), Natalie Smith (12) and Nora Crisp (10). Junior Dakota Jones topped the Lady Coyotes (5-3) with 12 points.

On Saturday, Dora bolted to an 18-12 lead at the quarter and led by three at halftime before being held to 11 second-half tallies. Junior Laurdis Sundayman had 21 points for Mescalero (8-2), while Jones tallied 12 points and sophomore Karen Inge 10 for the Lady Coyotes.

In Friday single games:

Clovis Christian 56, Amherst 17 – At CCS, the Lady Eagles (3-4) led by 19-9 at the quarter and held the Lady Bulldogs (0-7) to just eight points the rest of the way.

Sophomore Hannah McKay scored 19 points while junior Jalisa Raney, sophomore Shae Stageberg and eighth-grader Breelie Smith all added eight for CCS. Amherst’s top scorer was Mireya Nunez with eight points.

Farwell 38, Borden County 23 – Seniors Makylee Baldwin (12), Landri Richey (10) and Bella Jaime (7) combined for nearly 80 percent of the scoring for the Lady Blue (15-2) in a neutral-court win over the Lady Coyotes (11-5). Farwell took control with a 12-2 blitz in the second period.

Senior Tynslee Horton scored 10 points for Borden County.