Cavemen pull away after half, subdue Rams

Perhaps the worst thing that happened for Portales High’s boys in Thursday’s game against Carlsbad was halftime.

PHS spent the final five minutes of the first half erasing a 10-point deficit, then tied the game on two free throws by senior guard Jase Hightower 16 seconds into the third quarter.

Suffice it to say, not much went right for the Rams after that. They were outscored 19-2 by the Cavemen the rest of the period, and eventually were dealt a 68-39 setback on the opening night of the Portales Shootout at the Ram Athletic Center.

“I would like to think our pressure wore them down,” Carlsbad coach John Zumbrun said. “We wanted to get a lot of ball pressure in the first half, and we played a lot of kids.”

A 3-pointer by senior guard Kyle Orgain staked the Cavemen (6-2) to a 24-14 lead early in the second period before the Rams went on an 11-3 run – interrupted only by reserve Maliq Mills’ 3. Portales took the first possession of the third frame and promptly tied in on two free throws by junior forward/center Carson Pfaffenberger.

“We just had to regroup (at halftime),” Zumbrun said. “I thought we had a little more depth, and we had a little more legs down the stretch.”

Only Pfaffenberger’s basket near the middle of the third got the Rams (4-8) on the scoreboard the rest of the frame. Threes by senior guards Zenas Huerta and Jacob Chavarria pushed the margin to 11, and the Cavemen carried an 11-point advantage into the final canto.

“We destructed, for sure,” Rams coach Ty Thatcher said. “Bad shots led to runouts (for the Cavemen).

“It was a frustrating game all the way around.”

Carlsbad forced the Rams into 23 turnovers, many leading to easy points.

“We didn’t give our guards much help in that first half,” Thatcher said. “They shot it pretty good, but we lost (their shooters) over and over.”

After two baskets by Pfaffenberger and one by senior guard/forward Elijah Tellez gave the Rams some life midway through the final stanza, the Cavemen limited PHS to just one field goal the rest of the way.

Ten players scored for Carlsbad, led by Orgain with 17 and senior forward/guard Shane Sullivan with 16. Pfaffenberger and sophomore forward Pierce Culpepper led Portales with 10 points apiece.

The Rams were slated to face Pojoaque on Friday night and Eunice on Saturday to round out the weekend. PHS faces Clovis High in a 7 p.m. tipoff on Friday night at The Rock.

Farwell 55, Pojoaque 53 – With only three teams in the event, the Steers filled in Thursday’s slot and held on for a late win over the Elks (8-2), who came into the contest ranked third in New Mexico Class 4A by MaxPreps.

Farwell (16-3) built a 10-point halftime lead and had to hang on down the stretch as a couple of late 3s by the Elks were off the mark just before the final buzzer.

Juniors Braddock Foster and Chris Reyes led a balanced attack for the Steers with 10 points apiece. Farwell nearly led the game get away at the free throw line, sinking 26-of-47 while the Elks shot an efficient 19-of-23.

Senior guard Jordan Lopez and junior guard Joziah Salazar tossed in 11 points each for Pojoaque, including seven by Lopez in the third stanza.