Rams pull off squeaker for 4-4A tourney championship

STAFF WRITER

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The Portales Rams learned the hard way that they can’t take any team for granted this late in the season as they had to battle for a comeback win against Ruidoso Saturday night to win their second straight Division 4-4A title, 73-71.

After squandering a 10-point lead in the first quarter, Portales was outscored 20-9 and trailed by two points going into halftime thanks in large part to Ruidoso’s Randall Poor Thunder getting 11 of his 22 points in the second quarter.

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Portales forward Jordan Davis goes for a contested jump shot in the first half of the Rams game against Ruidoso Saturday night. Davis was fouled on the play, made his free throws and finished with 20 points helping the Rams win 73-71.

The two teams continued to trade the lead in the second half. Portales slowly pulled away, leading by as many as nine points with about 90 second left. However, the Rams missed four straight free throws, allowing the Warriors to eat away at the lead.

Fortunately for the Rams (17-9), guard Junior Ramirez was fouled with less than 30 seconds left, although he was one of the two Rams to miss his free throws during that 0-4 slump, he sank his next two to give the Rams a four-point cushion and the eventual win.

Ruidoso (10-18) may have showed some signs of fatigue at the beginning o the game as they had to beat East Mountain last night just to qualify for this game. However, once the second quarter rolled around, the Warriors were working very well together.

“We came out a little flat and sloppy at the beginning. I’m not sure if it was the road trip or the game the night before but we played our tails off,” Ruidoso coach Billy Paige said. “I’ve got to give my boys credit. They didn’t quit. This is what a district championship’s supposed to be like.”

Picking up two quick fouls in the second quarter, Portales junior center Jeremie Karngbaye sat the majority of the first half. Fortunately for the Rams, senior center Jordan Davis made up for Karngbaye’s absence as he scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half to keep Portales in the game.

“We knew we needed to pick up our defense in the second half,” Davis said. We weren’t quite as ready as we thought we were. We just thought we were going to come out, play and win. We did well in the first quarter and the second quarter we just lost our heads.

“My first half was good but my second half wasn’t. Fortunately Jeremie really went off in the second half so a big team effort for sure.”

Fittingly, it was the birthday boy, Karngbaye, who led the Rams with 22 points and 18 of them coming in the second half.

“It was great to two-peat, especially on my birthday,” Karngbaye said. “This year through all our ups and downs we were able to pull it off. Ruidoso’s a good team. All that hard work paid off.”

Karngbaye, Davis and Bronte Staugaard (18) all finished in double figures for the Rams while Poor Thunder, Johnathan Lewis (19) and Loren Mendez (10) scored in double figures for Ruidoso.

Portales coach Rickie McBroom was happy with the win, but wants his team to learn from this game.

“Honestly Ruidoso outplayed us in the second quarter, McBroom said. “During halftime we talked about getting back to what we do with getting the ball inside. I thought we shot too many 3s in the second quarter.

“Ruidoso was playing for their lives. If they beat us, they get into the state tournament automatically. That was a bit of the difference. They were playing for their lives and we weren’t. That’s something we have to learn that it doesn’t matter, it’s a ball game and you have to give your best all the time. I’m really proud of my kids because they were tested and they found a way to win.”

With both the regular season and tournament District 4-4A championships belonging to the Rams, they should grab one of the top eight seeds and host the first round of the state tournament at the Ram Athletic Center next Saturday.