Lady Rams move into state finals

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Ram junior Bailey Shillings weaves her way around a St. Mike’s defender during the Rams’ Class 4A semifinal match Thursday morning at The Pit in Albuquerque.

CNJ SPORTS WRITER

[email protected]

ALBUQUERQUE — Having plenty of state experience hasn’t helped the Portales Lady Rams get off to good starts in this season’s Class 4A state basketball tournament.

It hasn’t, however, prevented them from dominating the second half, either.

Junior forward Kambrey Blakey funneled in nine of her game-high 13 points in the third period, helping PHS pull away from its second sluggish start in two days for a 36-29 semifinal win over St. Michael’s at The Pit.

The top-seeded Lady Rams (23-6), who won what was then the Class 3A title last spring, go for their second in a row at 3:30 p.m. today when they face second-seeded Hope Christian at The Pit.

PHS scored the first eight points of the second quarter to open a 14-6 lead, but the Lady Horsemen (24-7) got two off-balace baskets from junior guard Laine Serna — one a 3-pointer — to pull to 14-11 at the half.

Blakey, held in check partly by a box-and-one defense employed by St. Mike’s at the beginning and two early fouls, went to work quickly in the third quarter as Portales seized control.

“It’s not as much about how you start as how you finish,” PHS coach Wade Fraze said. “Their experience and composure is what allows me to make the changes I do.”

The Lady Rams built a 13-point lead before Fraze emptied his bench in the final 90 seconds, and St. Mike’s finished the game on a 7-1 run. The Lady Horsemen also played some triangle-and-two defense, trying to take away junior guard Sheraya Cox.

“We talked about it before the game,” Cox said of the gimmick defenses by the smaller Lady Horsemen. “We just looked at what their tendancies are.”

St. Mike’s coach Martin Romero said his team’s goal was to keep the game relatively low-scoirng.

“Thirty-five is a good number, somewhere between 30 and 40,” he said when asked how many points he thought it would take to win. “We weren’t going to beat them to 50 points, that’s for sure.”

Blakey sat out about five minutes after picking up her second foul late in the quarter, but had only one more foul after that.

“She’s strong,” senior forward Alexandra Groenewold, who led St. Mike’s with 10 points, said of Blakey. “We had help on her inside, but she was just able to go over us.”

In Tuesday’s quarterfinals, PHS trailed West Las Vegas 21-17 late in the half, but dominated the rest of the way in a 57-31 rout.

“We try to pride ourselves on defense, night in and night out,” Fraze said. “St. Mike’s is a tough team. They came in very prepared, but I was proud of how we adapted.”

Class 4A girls

State semifinals

Thursday

At The Pit, Albuquerque

Portales 36, St. Michael’s 29

St. Michael’s (24-7) — Cristiana Gabaldon 2-7 2-2 7, Lainie Serna 2-2 0-0 5, Latysha Archuleta 0-4 2-2 2, Briona Vigil 0-3 0-0 0, Jocelyn Fernandez 1-5 0-0 2, Aurora Martinez 1-1 1-1 3, Karen Veruete 0-1 0-0 0, Alexandra Groenewold 4-8 2-4 10. Totals 10-31 29.

Portales (23-6) — Bailey Schillings 0-3 0-0 0, Zamorye Cox 1-2 0-0 2, Bailey Rowley 2-8 2-2 7, Sheraya Cox 4-9 0-0 8, Brooke Lopez 0-7 0-2 0, Kambrey Blakey 6-11 0-0 13, Sky Marianito 0-0 1-2 1, Lindsey Blakey 0-0 0-0 0, Kaycee Stone 0-0 0-1 0, Amanda Schmidt 1-1 0-0 2, McKenzie Bucksath 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 15-44 4-9 36.

St. Michael’s 6 5 6 12 — 29

Portales 6 8 15 7 — 36

3-pointers — St. Michael’s 2-11 (Serna 1-1, Gabaldon 1-3,Archuleta 0-1, Groenewold 0-1, Fernandez 0-2, Vigil 0-3), Portales 2-8 (Blakey 1-1, Rowley 1-4, Lopez 0-1, Schillings 0-2). Rebounds — St. Michael’s 24 (Groenewold 6), Portales 33 (Blakey 8). Assists — St. Michael’s 5 (Groenewold 2), Portales 9 (Rowley 3). Total fouls — St. Michael’s 14, Portales 15. Fouled out — none.