Lady Rams overwhelm Miyamura in tourney opener

After opening the campaign with 11 games against Texas competition, Portales High’s girls came back to the New Mexico side for the first time this season on Thursday night.

Suffice it to say, the Lady Rams will be challenged the rest of the way more than they were by Miyamura. The Lady Patriots managed only two field goals and didn’t score over the final 20 minutes – much of it with a running clock – at PHS cruised 67-6 on the opening night of the Portales Shootout at the Ram Athletic Center.

All Miyamura managed was a 3-point basket, a 2-pointer and a free throw. After sophomore guard Aubrey Martin scored from the paint with 4:17 left in the half, the Lady Patriots were outscored 37-0 the rest of the way.

Portales coach Wade Fraze & Co. felt a little bad for the opposition, but they were anxious to get on track after going 4-7 through their Texas run.

“We’re just glad to get a win,” Fraze said. “We’ve played so many Texas schools, so it was good for the kids to get a win.”

Senior forward Evannie Fulfer notched 17 points, junior center Skyler Massey tallied 13 and senior guard Myleigh Banda added 10 for the Lady Rams. All told, nine PHS players hit the scoring column.

“It was good for us,” said Fulfer, who also collected seven steals. “We definitely needed a win.”

Fulfer had eight of her points and senior guard Angel Ornelas six in the opening stanza. The Lady used pressure defense to force Miyamura (1-8) into 10 turnovers in the frame, and led 18-1 before Lady Patriots senior guard Heaven Lee drilled a 3-pointer with two minutes left in the stanza.

“They got a little frustrated,” Fulfer said of the Lady Patriots. “But throughout the game, we kept up the pressure pretty good.”

The running clock went into effect in the final minute of the half, which ended with Portales leading 46-6. Miyamura finished the contest with 27 turnovers, compared with nine for the Lady Rams.

“I think we executed well,” Fraze said. “Miyamura can be better than what they showed tonight. (The lopsided score) gave us a chance to work on our execution.”

Ornelas grabbed eight rebounds for Portales, followed by Massey with seven. Banda finished with seven assists, five coming in the first half.

Portales figured to get tougher tests the rest of the weekend, facing Silver on Friday night and Carlsbad on Saturday. The Cavegirls defeated the Lady Colts 40-30 in Thursday’s early girls clash.

PHS resumes its schedule on Friday night with a 6 p.m. tipoff at Alamogordo.