EPAC tourney pushed back due to inclement weather

TEXICO – Thursday’s opening round of the Eastern Plains Athletic Conference tournament was postponed a day due to inclement weather.

Thursday’s eight first-round tilts – four boys and four girls – were rescheduled for Friday in both gyms at Texico. On the boys’ side, sixth-seeded Elida took on No. 3 Fort Sumner and No. 7 Dora battled No. 2 Logan in 4 p.m. tipoffs, while 7 p.m. contests had No. 5 Grady facing No. 4 Melrose in Wolverine Gym and No. 8 Floyd squaring off with top-seeded Texico.

Sixteen games were scheduled for Saturday, with losers bracket semifinals set for Wolverine Gym and winners bracket semifinals in the Sports Arena in the morning and early afternoon. Seventh and fifth-place games were on tap at Wolverine Gym to follow, with the Sports Arena hosting third-place games and championship contests.

Meantime, the first two days of a three-day tournament at Lazbuddie were postponed. Clovis Christian’s girls were hopeful of salvaging two games when the teams reconvened on Saturday.

In Tuesday boys action:

Lubbock Christian 56, Farwell 50 – At Lubbock, the Eagles built a 10-point halftime advantage and held off a late Steers rally to close out the win.

Down 46-32, Farwell (17-4) used a 12-0 surge to get within two about midway through the final stanza. But Lubbock Christian went on a 10-4 run after that to lead by eight in the final minute.

Senior Edwin Speegle led the Eagles (11-6) with 12 points, while seniors Barrett Lee and Welker Horn and junior Hays Hubik each added 10 tallies.

Top scorer for the Steers was senior Ryder McElroy with 13 points, while juniors Braddock Foster and Hudson Agee followed with 12 and 9, respectively.

Tulia 95, Bovina 39 – The Class 3A Hornets (13-11) proved to be too much for the visiting Mustangs (3-14).

Four players scored in double digits for Tulia, led by junior Zaiden Jalomo with 19 points and Logan Becerra with 17. Also, freshmen Julius Johnson and Zai Frost tallied 15 and 14, respectively.

For Bovina, junior Angel Lara posted a team-leading 14 points and sophomore Matthew Espinoza added 12.

In girls contests on Tuesday:

Farwell 75, Sudan 35 – The homestanding Lady Blue had no trouble against the Hornettes (12-6, 1-1 District 2-2A), building an 18-5 advantage at the quarter.

Senior Makylee Baldwin poured in 25 points for Farwell (22-3, 2-0 district), while senior Bella Jaime added 13 and sophomore Ava Jaime 11. Meantime, senior Kennady Waldrop added nine points, connecting on three of the team’s seven 3-pointers.

Junior Haylee Toscano had a trio of 3s for the Hornettes and finished with 11 points.

San Jon 34, Clovis Christian 32 – At CCS, Lady Coyotes senior Dakota Fisher hit a go-ahead 3-point shot with17 seconds left and junior Rayna Sena added a free throw with seven seconds remaining as San Jon (4-5) pulled out the victory.

The Lady Eagles (3-5), who carried a 24-20 lead into the final stanza, were paced by sophomores Hannah McKay and Shae Stageberg with 8 and 7 points, respectively.

Hale Center 55, Bovina 31 – At Bovina, the Owls opened an 18-3 lead after one quarter and cruised to a District 2-2A win over the Fillies.

Freshman Maygen Espinosa netted 17 points and sophomore Anaya Compton chipped in 13 for the Lady Owls (13-6, 1-1). Freshman Sophia Olvera had nine points and senior Cassie Marquez tallied eight for the Fillies (5-13, 0-2).