Lovington overhauls Lady Rams in OT

CMI staff

LOVINGTON — The Portales Lady Rams had a District 4-3A tournament title in their sights Saturday night, but turnovers and missed free throws were their undoing.

The Lady Rams shot 13-for-35 from the free throw line and committed six turnovers in a short stretch of the fourth quarter, allowing a nine-point lead to slip away as top-ranked Lovington rallied for a 56-49 victory.

Senior guard Jocelyn Jeffery scored 18 points and junior guard Juztice Perry added 17 for the two-time defending Class 3A state champion Lady Wildcats (22-4), who have taken three of four from PHS this season, including a regular-season district sweep.

The Lady Rams (21-5) missed their first 10 free throws of the game before hitting 3-of-4 to end the half.

“Free throws were the story of the game,” Lady Rams coach Wade Fraze said. “We missed free throws and made six turnovers in a row down the stretch.

“We also missed some wide-open shots underneath the basket.”

For its part, Lovington didn’t fare a whole lot better, going 23-of-41. Jeffery, though, who went 16-of-16 in a game last month at the RAC, converted 8-of-10 in this one.

Sophomore Kambrey Blakey scored 17 points and junior McKenzie Bucksath added 13 points and eight boards for Portales, which should still get a high seed in the 3A state tournament and host a first-round game next weekend.

Down by five points at halftime, the Lady Rams blitzed Lovington 15-3 in the third period to open a 34-27 lead. That grew to nine points early in the final stanza.

Fraze said he doesn’t know where his squad will wind up in the seedings.

“That’s for the (NMAA selection) committee to decide,” he said. “We just have to go play. You can’t miss 22 free throws and expect to beat good teams — and Lovington is a good team.”

Kacie Terry and Bailey Rowley led PHS in assists with four apiece.

SUMMARY

Saturday

Girls

District 4-3A tournament

Championship

Lovington 56, Portales 49

Portales (21-5) — Francis Armijo 2 3-5 8, Bailey Rowley 0 1-5 1, Sheraya Cox 2 0-0 4, Brooke Lopez 0 1-2 1, Kambrey Blakey 6 4-10 17, Kacie Terry 0 1-4 1, Savannah Vincent 2 0-0 4, McKenzie Bucksath 5 3-9 13. Totals 17 13-35 49.

Lovington (22-4) — Juztice Perry 4 8-16 17, Myra Salazar 2 4-6 8, Selena Ornelas 2 0-1 6, Tayler Valencia 0 0-2 0, Lexi Valencia 0 2-2 2, Ryane Haley 1 0-2 2, Kylee Cunningham 1 1-2 3, Jocelyn Jeffery 4 8-10 18. Totals 14 23-41 56.

Portales 4 15 15 11 4 — 49

Lovington 9 15 3 18 11 — 56

3-pointers — Portales, Armijo, Blakey. Lovington, Jeffery 2, Ornelas 2, Perry.