Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Rams, Lady Rams win district openers

MORIARTY — Behind a standout performance from senior Jeremie Karngbaye, the Portales Rams won their district opener 70-62 against Moriarty on Friday night.

Controlling the game throughout, the Rams (15-2, 1-0 district) had three players in double digits. Karngbaye turned in 26 points. Braden Bridges had 14 and three of the Rams’ seven 3-pointers, while Junior Ramirez added 13.

Moriarty (8-11, 0-2) was led by Matt Soto with 17.

“We’re glad to get the road trip over,” Rams coach Rickie McBroom said. “Any time you win a district game on the road, it’s a real positive.”

Portales had a double-figure lead for most of the game, until a late surge by Moriarty closed the gap. According to McBroom, the team didn’t play as well on the defensive end as the head coach would have liked.

“We could have played better on the defensive end, but I like the way we pushed the ball and scored tonight,” he said. “But again, it’s a huge positive that we got the road win.”

Portales 63, Moriarty 58 (girls) — After falling behind in the first half, the Portales girls used a big third quarter to win their district opener over Moriarty.

Zamorye Cox led the offensive effort for the Lady Rams (11-6, 1-0) with 22 points. Meantime, sophomore Taylee Rippee turned in another solid performance with a double-double, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Also, Lindsay Blakey recorded six blocks and eight points for the Lady Rams.

“We just made a defensive adjustment at halftime, and the girls responded really well,” Lady Rams coach Wade Fraze said. “We got to use a lot of girls that haven’t played all that much, which was really good.”

Alyssa Adams led all scorers with 27 points for Moriarty (13-4, 0-1).

It was only the second loss in 10 home games for the Lady Pintos this season. Fraze said he was proud of winning on the road against a program that moved down this year from Class 5A.

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