Coyotes overhaul Rams in fourth quarter

ROSWELL — Portales High may have led a good part of the way, but Rams coach Mark Gallegos wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance Thursday night.

“We weren’t prepared to play,” Gallegos said after the Rams dropped a 58-46 decision to Roswell High. “We were really never in the game. We gave them 15 offensive rebounds and we turned the ball over 20 times.”

A.K. Dennis, a 6-foot-6 senior post, scored 15 points and junior guard Clarence Cheadle added 13 for the Coyotes (9-4), who trailed by four points early in the final period but outscored Portales 23-9 in the stanza to complete a season sweep of the Rams.

Roswell High beat Portales 66-60 at the PHS gym in November.

Senior guard Chris Carter had three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points for the Rams (8-7), who led at each of the first three quarter stops.

Roswell High had a big advantage at the free throw line, although it shot poorly — the Coyotes were 14-of-26 on free throws compared to 3-of-4 for Portales.

Gallegos said the Rams weren’t as aggressive as they could have been attacking the basket.

“We couldn’t get a call,” Gallegos said, “but then we really didn’t do a lot to force the officials to call much.”

Portales returns to Roswell on Monday night to take on Goddard High in a 7 p.m. contest.

Roswell High 58, Portales 46

Portales (8-7) — Cruz Ontiveros 0 0-0 0, Daniel Aranda 3 0-0 7, Chris Kirchner 3 2-2 9, Bo Gabriel 2 1-1 5, Trevor Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Chris Adkins 2 0-0 4, Daniel Boan 0 0-0 0, Chris Carter 5 0-0 13, Tyler Johnson 1 0-0 2, Jack Hale 2 0-0 4, Chris Smith 1 0-1 2. Totals 19 3-4 46.

Roswell High (9-4) — Stephen Brandt 0 0-2 0, Lucas Gallegos 1 1-2 3, Trevis Reese 3 4-5 11, Josh Williams 1 4-7 7, Clarence Cheadle 5 3-5 13, Jonathan Hamlet 4 1-2 9, A.K. Dennis 7 1-3 15. Totals 21 14-26 58.

Portales 15 12 10 9 — 46

Roswell High 13 10 12 23 — 58

3-pointers — Portales (5): Carter 3, Aranda, Kirchner. Roswell High (2): Reese, Williams. JV score — Roswell High 51, Portales 41.