Portales crushes Lovington 69-12

PORTALES — One week ago, the young Lovington Wildcats girls basketball team kept the Portales Rams on the ropes, trailing by just five points at half, before Portales ultimately pulled away.

On Friday night, however, Portales would have no part of any kind of close game, forcing the issue from start to finish in a 62-19 rout.

"That was what we wanted to do is get out to a good start, because last week we didn't," Rams coach Wade Fraze explained. "We just wanted to get off to a good start (tonight), which we did."

Portales (16-2) showed a lot of style and substance right from the start, as Zamorye Cox' fast break pass to Taylee Rippee led to a quick off the glass bucket. Cox soon followed that up with a rainbow 3-pointer, before back-to-back scores from Kelly Fraze.

Sarah Lovato then did an excellent job of stepping in front of a Lovington (6-11) pass and dishing it off to Cox before going out of bounds, which Cox proceeded to quickly pull-up and drill another rainbow-like trey.

Lindsay Blakey soon capped-off a 20-1 Ram start with three-straight baskets, including a one-handed jumper. The Rams would carry a 20-3 lead into the second quarter, before going on a 14-0 run — finished by three consecutive Cox buckets, to extend the lead to 34-3.

"What was different (compared to last time)? The difference is our youth and (Portales') experience," Wildcats coach Casey Pack said. "They come out with a different energy level and we didn't step up to that energy."

The Rams would carry a 36-5 lead into halftime, thanks to not only 12 points from Cox and eight more from Blakey, but also, nine steals and 11 assists as a team. Lovington actually needed less than three minutes into the third quarter to double its scoring output.

However, that was still not nearly enough, as Portales added five more steals and 11 more assists in the second half. For the Rams, it is their seventh-straight win, following an opening-round loss in the Littlefield Wildcat Classic to Stratford a couple weeks back.

Portales was a much younger team a year ago, and its record showed, as the Rams were 12-6 through their first 18 games. For Fraze, despite his squad's marked improvement from last season, he knows this season is still far from over.

"Well, I just like to think where we want to be - not where we're at," Fraze said. "We want to stay on a steady climb through the season, avoid peaks and valleys, and just try to keep getting better everyday."

The Rams will next face Goddard on the road next Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. The Rockets will certainly provide a much tougher challenge than the Wildcats, and for Portales to prevail once again, Fraze believes his girls will need to bring their 'A' game.

"Goddard is very dangerous. They have two of the best shooters anywhere, and they can hit off the dribble, off the catch from anywhere on the floor," Fraze explained. "They're defending 5A state champions, so they know how to win. I think we better come prepared, because they're a good team."