Texico, Melrose earn state title rematches

Rematches are ahead for the Texico and Melrose girls basketball teams.

Both won impressively in state quarterfinal play on Tuesday as they began defense of 2015 state titles, the Lady Wolverines bouncing Tucumcari 70-38 in Class 3A at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho while the seventh-seeded Lady Buffs upended second-seeded Ramah 67-61 in Class 2A at Bernalillo H.S.

Texico (22-4), the No. 2 seed, faces third-seeded District 4-3A foe Eunice (27-2) for the fifth time since Feb. 9 in an 8 a.m. Thursday semifinal at the Star Center. The third-seeded Lady Cardinals crushed Cuba 69-34 on Tuesday.

In 2A, the Lady Buffs (18-9) meet Tatum (19-8), a 58-40 winner over Fort Sumner on Tuesday, in a 9:45 a.m. quarterfinal game at Bernalillo on Thursday and a rematch of last year’s final, won by Melrose 52-48.

The other area girls team at state, second-seeded Grady (18-10), faces seventh seed Walatowa Charter (17-7) in an 11:30 a.m. quarterfinal in Class 1A today at Bernalillo.

Texico and Eunice have split this season, with the Lady Wolverines winning the district tournament tiebreaker and Eunice capturing the district tournament final. Since Texico’s 50-37 win at home on Feb. 9, the remaining games have each been decided by one point.

On Tuesday, the Lady Wolverines opened a 23-11 lead at the quarter behind two 3-pointers and 12 points from senior guard Brianna Reyna and six points from junior forward Jasmine Gannon. Reyna finished the contest with 24 points, and Gannon had 18.

“We played well in the first quarter, and it was important for us to do that,” Texico coach Richard Luscombe said. “We had a height advantage, so we tried to attack them inside.”

Sophomore guard Alyssa Martinez scored 11 points for the Lady Rattlers (18-8), who were coming off their best season in at least a decade.

In Class 2A, junior forward Reagan Carthel scored a career-best 30 points as Melrose got past Ramah.

The Lady Buffs built a 13-point lead entering the final period, watched the Lady Mustangs (23-6) whittle it to three late in the game and then closed it out at the free throw line.

Senior guard Taylor Bostwick added 21 points for Melrose, while junior guard Landry Widner also had a career best with 10 points. Meantime, senior guard Jordyn Lewis tried to carry Ramah, finishing with 40 points, but only one of her teammates had more than six points.

Earlier, Fort Sumner carried a 26-24 lead into halftime, but went nearly 6 1/2 minutes of the third quarter without scoring as Tatum wrested control en route to its ninth win in a row.

Turnovers cost Fort Sumner in the third quarter.

“I think we attacked their press well in the first half,” Vixens coach Ben Segura said. “Basically, they took our deep (pass over the press) away in the second half.”

Senior forward Kevyn Ferriera and junior guard Bailey O’Connor each scored 10 points for the Lady Coyotes, while sophomore forward Claudia Torres took game honors with 14 points for the 11th-seeded Vixens (14-13), who were coming off a round-of-16 win at Dora.