Prep Basketball Roundups

Staff reports

LADY RAMS WIN MORIATRY TOURNAMENT: Portales stayed undefeated and took home some hardware as they defeated Miyamura 45-41 in the Moriarty Tournament final Saturday.

Kambrey Blakey led the Lady Rams (3-0) with 17 points and McKenzie Bucksath and Brooke Lopez both added five points. Amber Antez led Miyamura (3-3) with 11 points. The Lady Rams will return home to face Robertson on Tuesday.

ELIDA TIGERS LOSE FINAL: The Elida Tigers had visions of winning their tournament, but the Tatum Coyotes had other ideas.

The Coyotes (7-0) scored at least 16 points in each quarter as the took home the championship trophy, beating the host Tigers 69-59. Marily Varela led the Tigers (4-2) with 26 points.

But it wasn’t enough as Abby Medlin scored 31 for the Coyotes. “We fought hard enough to win, but we didn’t execute enough to win,” Tigers coach J.D. Isler said. “They have an outstanding player in Medlin and we didn’t do a very good job in defending her.”

The Tigers cut the deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter, but last year’s Class 1A champions had an answer for every comeback the Tigers tried to mount.

“You always want to win at home,” Isler said. “We had it down to seven with about four minutes to go, but they made a play and got a bucket and kept us at bay.”

The Tigers will have their shot at revenge Thursday, as they travel to Tatum.

PORTALES RAMS GET FIRST WIN OF SEASON: The Portales Rams are on the board in the win column.

Senior post Jeremie Karngbaye scored the go-ahead basket with 30 seconds left, and the Rams held on for a 56-53 win over Bosque Saturday night.

After the Bobcats (4-4) missed a pair of free throws, senior guard Matt Martinez added two free throws with 2.1 seconds left to seal it for the Rams (1-3). A last-ditch attempt from midcourt was off the mark for Bosque.

Rams (1-3) coach Rickie McBroom said his players are starting to get into basketball shape, and that allowed them to keep defensive pressure on the Bobcats. “We were able to put pressure on them the whole game,” McBroom said. “I think we wore them down at the end.”