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With more than a dozen games to play in a three-day period, there wouldn’t seem to be a lot of time for the Portales Rams to have a practice.
However, that’s just what they did, and in the process they turned a small losing streak into a big winning streak.
After starting 0-2 at the Eastern New Mexico University team camps at Greyhound Arena, the Rams regrouped for a nine-game streak to close out the camp’s regular season.
“I’m really happy,” Gallegos said after the Rams’ final regular season game. “We had a little bit of growing up to do in the first two games.”
After a loss to Grants in the second game of the camp, the Rams had a late-night practice. The Ram players felt the practice helped change a few things
“We played harder (after the practice),” said Chris Kirchner, a senior-to-be for Portales. “Our intensity level was very low. The last few games, people have been getting up off the bench, getting rowdy.”
The streak put Portales in as the No. 2 seed in the camp’s tournament, which runs through today.
Portales’ final win of the regular season was a 39-14 blowout over Taos. The camp was the first time Gallegos faced former assistant Rick Apodaca, who became the Tigers’ coach less than a month ago.
“It’s hard because I know what it feels like,” Gallegos said. “(The players are) learning a lot about you and you’re learning a lot about them. It’s just kind of chaos for a while, but you’ve got to put it in perspective.”