Secret no more: Sours leading Texico girls

TEXICO — From "best kept secret" to no secret at all, Texico junior point guard Baylee Sours has certainly burst onto the scene this season.

Sours, arguably the area's best small-school girls player, is averaging approximately 20 points per game, to go along with double-digits in rebounding and nearly six assists per game in 2017-18.

"We rely on her pretty heavily," Texico girls basketball coach Richard Luscombe said. "We rely on her to do a lot of things in both our offense and defense. She's got a really good understanding of what we're trying to accomplish."

The 5-foot-6 Sours has been on the Wolverines' varsity team since her freshman year, where she contributed off the bench, and according to Luscombe, was key down the stretch during Texico's 2016 3A state championship run.

Sours then cracked the starting lineup as the team's point guard a season ago, helping the Wolverines to a 3A semifinal appearance. After being a strong role player the past two years, however, this season has proven to be a breakthrough for her.

Part of that reason, according to Luscombe, is that Sours is so unique for her position.

"Typically a point guard doesn't have to score a lot, but she looks to score quite a bit, and she's our leading scorer — by far," Luscombe explained. "She's our leading rebounder, and a majority of those are offensive. She gets a lot of second-chance points. She has this knack about always being around the basketball, which is hard to teach."

The Wolverines are off to a 15-3 start, are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak and have hopes for a third state title in four seasons. Texico's latest win came Friday night, 41-36 over Tatum on the road in overtime. Sours had a game-high 17 points.

According to Sours, some had written the Wolverines off this year, which only fueled her and her teammates even further.

"We've been playing quite a few good teams and playing bigger schools, which helps us getting ready for the state tournament," Sours said. "We've beaten some teams that we're not supposed to beat, and nobody really gave us a chance coming into this season. A lot of what we do is we play good defense. We play pressure defense and that catches (the opponent) off guard."

Sours' ball skills certainly catch a lot of teams off guard, as well. For Luscombe, who's known Sours since her elementary school days, perhaps the biggest thing that Sours brings to the table is her intangibles.

While scoring a bunch of points and grabbing several boards is great, strong leadership and a competitive nature cannot be taught. "We got some really good senior leadership, but she really takes it upon herself to step up, because she knows how much she's relied upon," Luscombe said.

When asked about her leadership, Sours said that the senior girls that she was around as a freshman really took her under their wing, and she tries to do the same with her current teammates.

As for the season, Texico will soon begin district play, and already, a challenger has emerged.

"Tucumcari is undefeated (19-0 after Saturday's 55-35 win at Bosque) and they match up really well with us," Sours explained. "We need to come out and hustle, play good defense and take good shots."

Sours aspires to play college ball, but has yet to receive a scholarship offer as a junior. If nothing comes in the next year-plus, Sours would consider walking on somewhere.

Sours is a basketball junkie. She's played the sport for most of her life, and for her basketball simply fits her skill set.

"I have always been a quicker girl, and basketball is where I can show that quickness," Sours explained. "I have the passion and drive to make stuff happen, and basketball lets my competitive nature come out.

"I don't like to lose."