Portales teams suffer double-digit losses

SUDAN, Texas — Apparently, the Portales girls team left its offense in New Mexico.

In its only visit to Texas this season, the Portales girls team suffered its second-straight defeat, 33-20, to Sudan Tuesday night.

Portales (2-2) fell into a 13-5 hole after the first quarter and was blanked in the third for its lowest-scoring game in years.

Lady Ram coach Brenda Gomez said poor shooting (7-of-21) and rebounding hurt the team all night against a Sudan team that shot 67 percent.

“If you don’t connect on the shots you get, you wind up in deep trouble,” Gomez said. “We didn’t rebound. We gave up on it. We didn’t try to get any offensive rebounds.”

Taniqua Hollis led Sudan with 13 points, while nobody reached double figures for Portales. Megan Kabrick had five for Portales, which faces Highland Thursday in the opening round of the Mel Otero Invitational in Rio Rancho.

Rams fall at Roswell

ROSWELL — The host Coyotes turned a four-point lead into a 14-point lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and held on for a 61-49 win against the Portales Rams.

Portales (2-3) jumped out to a 16-9 lead after the first quarter, but coach Mark Gallegos said the Coyotes got a few 3-pointers to even things up in the second quarter and their inside presence gave the Rams trouble all night.

“We couldn’t stop them inside,” Gallegos said. “Our biggest problem is we don’t have a defensive identity and it’s killing us.”

After scoring 25 points in the first half, the Coyotes scored 26 in the final stanza, compared to 18 for the Rams.

Clarence Cheadle had 14 to lead three Roswell players in double figures, as John Hamlet added 12 and Lucas Gallegos 10.

Daniel Aranda led Portales with 16 points, and Jerrod Long chipped in 13.

Portales next plays Saturday at Bernalillo. The varsity-only matchup will tip off at 7 p.m.