Defending champs Texico, Melrose advance

Texico and Melrose started their quests for state title repeats with easy home wins Friday night as the girls state basketball tournament kicked off with first-round matchups.

Second-seeded Texico overcame a slow start to rout Ramah 60-15 in Class 2A at Texico while Melrose, seeded fifth in Class 1A, beat Springer 57-27 at Melrose.

CMI photo: Tony BullocksTexico senior McKenzi Mayfield looks to pass the ball while Ramah freshmen Taea Hill, left, and Jordyn Lewis closes in during the first half of Friday's Class 2A girls round-of-16 state tournament game at Texico. The second-seeded Lady Wolverines advanced with a 60-15 victory.

Dora and Floyd also picked up first-round wins in Class 1A, while Fort Sumner was the only area small school team eliminated, dropping a gut-wrenching 44-43 decision in 1A at Jemez Valley.

Freshman Brianna Rivera scored 25 points and senior Rae Lynn Prather added 12 for Texico (20-8), which outscored Ramah 38-9 in the second half.

"All it was that we started connecting on some baskets, and that kind of relaxed us," Texico coach Richard Luscombe said. "In the third quarter, we converted some fast breaks, and we really started to play well."

The Lady Wolverines limited freshman Jordyn Lewis of Ramah (14-13), Class 2A's leading scorer, to 11 points. She came in averaging 24.9 points a game.

Melrose got above the .500 mark for the first time since early in the season behind 23 points from sophomore Caley Barnard, 13 from freshman Addison Dial and 12 from senior Cara Barnard.

Caley Barnard scored 11 points as the Lady Buffs (15-14) opened a 19-point halftime lead by outscoring the Lady Devils 23-7 in the second quarter.

"Our press just wore them down, and they finally started turning the ball over," Melrose coach Toby Bostwick said.

The Lady Buffs take on fourth-seeded Floyd (17-12), a 64-50 winner at home on Friday over Mescalero, in a 4:45 p.m. quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday at Bernalillo High School.

Sophomore Kyra Laumbach was the leading scorer for 12th-seeded Springer (11-15), finishing with eight points.

At Pueblo, N.M., senior Cassie Sando scored the game's final seven points as the No. 7 Lady Warriors knocked off 10th-seeded For Sumner.

McKayla Landreth, Oriana Ortiz, Brook Wootton and Angelica Torres scored seven points each for the Vixens (16-12), who shot just 5-of-16 from the free-throw line.

Sando finished with 18 points for Jemez Valley (25-5), while fellow senior Aubre Chosa added 15.

Dora (18-10), seeded eighth in 1A, opened a 20-7 lead at t he quarter and cruised past Cloudcroft 63-49 behind 18 points from senior Jasi Roberts, who led four Lady Coyotes in double figures.

Stacie O'Connor took game honors with 22 points for the Lady Bears (18-7).

Dora has its work cut out in the next round, facing top-ranked District 8-1A rival Tatum (27-1) in a 3 p.m. quarterfinal game on Tuesday at Bernalillo High School.

At Floyd, the Lady Broncos overcame a four-point halftime deficit by outscoring Mescalero 37-19 in the second half.

Junior guard Tabitha Ornelas scored 20 points and sophomore guard Jasmine Gomez added 11 for Floyd. Senior forward Diona Chavez topped the Lady Chiefs with 12 points, while senior center Ardis Holder added 10.