Ruidoso cruises by Rams

CMI staff

RUIDOSO — In a nutshell, the Portales Rams couldn’t throw it in the ocean on Friday night.

Coming off a big win at Lovington on Tuesday night, the Rams managed only 21 points in the first three quarters and were handed a 60-45 District 4-3A boys loss by Ruidoso.

The result leaves all three teams at 2-2 in the district. Rams coach Rickie McBroom said Lovington (11-14) and Ruidoso (10-15) will meet on a neutral court to determine the top seed either Monday or Tuesday, with the Rams (13-12) traveling to the loser of that game in a semifinal contest on Thursday.

The Lovington-Ruidoso winner will host Thursday’s winner on Saturday for the district tournament title.

Even though the Rams shot poorly, McBroom said the team struggled all the way around.

“Our defense wasn’t that good either,” he said. “We didn’t shoot real good, but we’ve been playing pretty good defense and we didn’t do that tonight.”

Travis Mosher scored 16 points for the Warriors, who led 27-12 at halftime and played the Rams even in each of the final two periods. Anfernee Rocha added 14 points and Blayne Maldonado scored 11.

For the Rams, only senior Caleb Burciaga, with 12 points, reached double figures.

“I’m going to give Ruidoso a lot of credit,” McBroom said. “They did what they needed to do to win the ballgame.”

The Rams were able to pull within seven points during the third quarter. They came out of their normal game by extending their defense and trying to force tempo in the final period, but both teams finished with 24 points.

“We’re looking at it as a doable thing,” McBroom said of trying to win the district meet. “We’re just going to have to go home and start fixing things we need to get better at on Monday.”

District 4-3A

Ruidoso 60, Portales 45

Portales (13-12, 2-2) — Matt Martinez 3 1-2 7, Ben Martinez 0 2-2 2, Daniel Sanchez 2 5-6 9, Caleb Burciaga 4 3-5 12, Zach Campbell 2 3-6 7, Bronte Staugaard 1 2-3 5, Nathan Chavez 1 1-2 3. Totals 13 17-26 45.

Ruidoso (10-15, 2-2) — Adam Ramos 3 1-2 7, Isaac Gilliland 1 0-0 2, Anfernee Rlocha 4 4-5 14, Jesse Valdez 1 0-0 3, Luis Marquez 2 0-0 5, Travis Mosher 7 2-5 16, Justin Platta 0 2-3 2, Blayne Maldonado 4 4 2-2 11. Totals 22 11-17 60.

Portales 6 6 9 24 — 45

Ruidoso 12 15 9 24 — 60

3-pointers — Portales, Burciaga, Staugaard. Ruidoso, Rocha 2, Maldonado, Marquez, Valdez. Junior varsity — Portales 53, Ruidoso 28.